Always Assuming
by mcangel1976
Summary: Third of the Assuming Series. Haruhi and Chika are now separated and going to two different campuses. This can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings. And what's this... Tamaki and the twins promise to look out for Haruhi. That doesn't exactly make Chika feel better. Follow them as they navigate school and then life after school: dating, engagement, wedding...
1. And So It Continues

**Disclaimer… I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or its characters, but as with the other stories in the Assuming series, I will use them for everyone else's enjoyment in my fanfictions. **

**A/N: Guess what?! It's finally here! The third and final installment of the Assuming series. LOL. Thank you to Romance20 for the title name. When we left Haruhi and Chika, they had left Haruhi's graduation dinner after that explosive ending to hers and the twins' graduation… thanks to Hikaru and Kaoru. I have a few plans in store for everyone in this final installment. As always, if you have an assumption you would like to see or have any ideas for the story, please let me know through review or PM. I do accept guest reviews, so even if you don't have an account, you can let me know what you think. This story will cover their first year apart and through the wedding, so it will cover more than a year unlike the first two. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1 – And So It Continues

Summer vacation had passed and now Chika and Haruhi were once again starting school again, but now they would be separated. One would be starting her university career at Todai and the other would be beginning his last year at Ouran… to him it was the beginning of the end (at least of his school career). Both were apprehensive about this next school year, but thankfully the couple trusted each other explicitly; not to mention they had the cooperation and help of six of their other friends. Okay, maybe those friends could be more of a hindrance than a help, but they meant well… most of the time… sometimes… occasionally. Unfortunately, their track record when it came to assumptions there were still some issues. In fact, just a week prior, their three greatest headaches made a huge assumption which caused a problem or two… or more.

_**Flashback of prior week…**_

_It should have been a normal day, but when the Host Club was present, nothing could be considered normal. Haruhi had woken up early so that she could clean her apartment, especially while she could. Just because the Host Club had not scheduled anything did not mean they were not lying in wait to ambush her. She learned long ago to never let her guard down and to expect the unexpected. In regards to her friends, it was the perfect motto to live by. _

_Hearing a knock at the door, Haruhi put her rag down and brushed her bangs out of her face before answering it. When she opened it up, she found her boyfriend standing on the other side and that is when she glanced at the time, 9:30; the time Chika told her he would be by to pick her up for breakfast… and normally she would be done cleaning, or at least a good portion of it done, but she kind of started deep cleaning everything and moving he furniture around because she had accidentally dropped something behind the TV while she was dusting. Upon seeing how dusty and dirty it was in that corner, she decided to clean everything from top to bottom, and that included moving furniture… well, the stuff she could. Needless to say, she forgot about the time and getting ready for her date. Grinning sheepishly at her boyfriend, she invited him in and explained, "Sorry, cleaning kind of took me over."_

"_I can see that," he snickered as he lifted his hand and pull out a dust ball from his girlfriend's hair. "Do you want to forget about breakfast?"_

"_No!" Haruhi declared. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she said in a much calmer voice, "No, I'll go and get ready now and then we can grab a bite. Ummm, what are you doing the rest of the day?"_

_Chika gazed at her cautiously, "Spending it with my beautiful girlfriend while she orders me around and I move furniture?" He had been around her twice before when she got into one of these cleaning frenzies. One time, he had shown up to surprise her and got roped into helping; and the second time, she called him to come help because the bookshelf fell and she couldn't lift it. It was better to assist now before she tried to do something by herself that could possibly kill her. When left alone, Haruhi could be very tenacious if there was something she wanted to do. Most people saw it in her pursuit of her studies, but she could be the same way with cleaning. _

_Smiling, she gave him a kiss and said, "Good answer."_

"_Ok, but first, go take a shower and we will get something to eat. Before we are holed up for a couple of hours, let's take a break."_

_Haruhi nodded and took a couple steps back, winning her a confounded expression from the other teen. The moment she thought she was far enough away, she told him, "As you wish, Yasuchika." She ran for her room and shut the door. _

_Shaking his head, Chika laughed. She only did that for two reasons: she was mad or she was trying to tease him. Thankfully, she wasn't mad because Haruhi could be vicious when she needed to be. Calling out to her on his way to the living room, he said, "Just get ready." He walked into the living room and found… disarray. There were books everywhere, nothing was in its place, and if it wasn't for the legs of the coffee table, he wouldn't have been able to find it. Sweat dropping, he shook his head again and decided it might be safer to stay in the kitchen. _

_It didn't take long for Haruhi to finish getting ready and entered the living room to find him finishing the removal of the books off of the bookshelf… a project she started on right before he arrived. Approaching him, she gave him a kiss and whispered, "Thank you."_

"_Isn't that why you're dating me?" He winked._

_Laughing, she agreed, "Something like that."_

"_Ready?"_

"_Almost, I just have to put my earrings in and grab my purse," she said as she lifted her hands to her ears and put one of the two diamond earrings Hunny had given her into her ear. Unfortunately, the other one dropped to the floor. _

_Kneeling on the ground, Chika found the earring and gave it to her before he stood up, "I believe this is yours milady."_

_The problem with the rest of the club was always their timing. Tamaki and the twins, well the others were also there, chose that moment to visit Haruhi and looked into the window to see Chika kneeling before Haruhi and the beaming smile on the female host's face… _

_Pounding on the door alerted the couple that they were no longer alone. Haruhi opened the door and found three seething pairs of eyes and three pairs of calm eyes, "What are you guys doing here?" She figured Satoshi wasn't with them because he would know that she and Chika had a date; although, Hunny should have known as well._

"_Sorry Haru-Chan, Takashi and I thought you would be gone by now," Hunny answered her unasked question. _

"_Never mind that!" Tamaki bellowed and stormed past her with the twins flanking him, and stopped right in front of Chika, "How dare you? How dare you propose to my little girl when you haven't even asked permission?!"_

_Chika glared at the person he considered one of the biggest idiots (and the twins were his flunkies), "First of all, if I were to propose, I wouldn't need to get your permission, I would ask Ranka. Secondly, I didn't ask her to marry me!"_

"_Oh yah? Then why did we see you on one knee before her?" Hikaru grumbled._

"_You had a shiny diamond in your hand!" Kaoru declared._

_Together they proclaimed, "Sure looked like a proposal to us."_

_Glare intensifying, Chika noticed the twins took one large step back away from him, but the blond former president remained vigilant in his spot. Growling, the young Haninozuka exclaimed, "You three are morons! I wasn't…"_

"_I have to agree with Chika," Haruhi stated calmly, but no one could miss the small black aura that started to emanate from her, "I dropped one of my earrings and Chika picked it up for me."_

_Hikaru shook his head, "You can't keep this a secret. We know your lying because you don't have diamond earrings."_

_Narrowing her eyes on her friend, Haruhi snapped and the blackness grew, "Oh really? Do you not remember what happened in our first year of Ouran? Do you not remember that Hunny-senpai gave me a pair of diamond earrings and you assumed the exact same thing you are now?"_

_The elder twin thought about everything the brunette just said and face palmed, "Damn it!"_

"_I think that should be my line. What are you guys doing here anyway?" Haruhi grumbled._

_Tamaki recovered quickly and spun around to face the female host, and he was sparkling (much like Hunny's flowers), "Well my precious daughter, we came to spend the day with you."_

"_No," Haruhi denied him._

"_But…"_

"_No."_

"_Haruhi, I don't think you understand. We have come to spend time with you before you leave for university."_

"_No way in hell. Besides, I am going to the same university as you and it is in town. Todai isn't even in a different prefecture," Haruhi fumed, the black aura increasing again. _

_Chika pushed Tamaki out of the way, wrapped his girlfriend in his arms, and whispered, "Calm down. They are just idiots and you are letting them get to you." He watched the dark aura slowly decrease and eventually disappear. Snapping his head up, he scowled at Tamaki, "We already have plans for today, so you will need to find someone else to bother."_

_In the end, the other hosts followed Chika and Haruhi from place to place, and since the couple was unable to get rid of them, when they returned to the apartment and found they were still being followed, Haruhi put everyone to work. The more people to do the heavy lifting the faster and easier to clean. Tamaki and the twins tried to get out of it, but they were no match for the brunette and wound up doing what they were told. Somehow Kyoya got out of it by saying he was only there to supervise. Soon though the apartment was sparkling clean, even behind all the furniture, and the other hosts decided it was best to leave before they were put to work again, leaving Chika and Haruhi alone to enjoy each other's company._

_**End Flashback...**_

Now a week later, Haruhi and Chika were about to embark on their first year apart since the female host's first year at Ouran. They could do this. Fears and apprehensions were pushed out of their minds and nothing would come between them this year. They had trust, love, and the will to see it through. Their plan was to study together at least twice a week and then meet on weekends for dates and such. On top of that, Haruhi was scheduled to still attend club functions at least once a week, although, she thought her former customers would not want to see her as much as the other hosts. Everything would work out, and unlike the other hosts, they did not succumb to assumptions… well not like the others did at least.

Tamaki and the twins promised Chika they would look after Haruhi for him. Hunny assured his brother that he would make sure no one swooped in on "Haru-Chan", and Mori agreed. The only one who didn't say he would do anything was Kyoya, but Chika and Haruhi were sure he was doing something behind the scenes. The Host Club customers who liked Chika thought now that he and Haruhi were separated, ti would be the perfect time to act. It was going to be a hard and trying year for both Haruhi and Chika. Hopefully they will make it through without committing murder or being committed.


	2. First Day Assumptions

**A/N: Well as you can see they really haven't learned their lesson. He was just down on his knee to retrieve the earring his girlfriend dropped like any good gentleman would do. Leave it to the Host Club to assume it was something else. So, as previously stated and based on the two previous installments, there will be hijinks, assumptions galore, and whatever else we can throw in there. I warn you now, there will be some drama too… and I mean more than the trio of troublemakers making trouble. Being separated can have his own bag of assumptions and since this series is all about assumptions, I need to play with them all. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 2 – First Day Assumptions

It might be weird to see, if anyone actually saw it, but Haruhi didn't care. She never really cared about what others thought of her or what she was doing… if she did, she honestly might not be with Chika. A second son in a prestigious and powerful family who was younger and used to exhibit some anger issues, and she was nothing more than the daughter of a cross dressing commoner and a lawyer mother who had passed away when she was a child. It was a blueprint right out of one of those dramatic romances that Hollywood seemed to always produce; and if it wasn't for her acceptance and time at Ouran, mistakenly entering the third music room to study and instead finding the Host Club, or breaking that stupid 8 million yen vase thus being forced to become part of the Host Club… well, she might never have met Chika. Now they had been together for almost three years and Haruhi really believed that he was her Prince Charming. He was the only one for her, and she knew he felt the same way about her.

If someone were to discover Haruhi's current secret, they might think she was out of her mind, strange, or that she was a commoner acting like a commoner; however, some might find the secret somewhat romantic. Either way, she was determined that no one find out and that it remained with her. She would not even divulge to her own boyfriend. This was for her and her alone, a way to feel connected to Chika even when he wasn't physically with her. So as she made her way through her first day of school, she could feel her shirt scrape against it and she knew everything would be alright because she wasn't alone. Of course, the appearance of a limo pulling up to her bus stop and four heads popping out of the sunroof, well that was to be expected as well and she knew regardless of her secret, there were certain friends that would be looking out for her even if she didn't want them to.

"Daughter! We finally found you. Come on, get in. Mommy and Mori-senpai are here as well!" Tamaki declared and waved her forward.

Groaning, Haruhi mumbled, "What are you doing here senpai?"

"Haru-Chan! I promised my brother I would make sure you got to school safely. Now we can all ride together," Hunny giggled. Honestly, he promised Chika to make sure Tamaki didn't kill, maim, injure, etc. the woman the youngest Haninozuka had every intention of spending the rest of his life with. Thusly, he thought like Tamaki that morning and assumed the blond would attempt to pick Haruhi up on her way to school and intercepted him before the former president could leave his mansion; and Hunny had been right in his thinking. The reason they had not been at Haruhi's home before she left that morning… Hunny decided it would be a good idea to pick up the twins and Kyoya along the way since Mori was already with him. His argument was that it would be "really neat and awesome if they could all show up together for school, and we can't ignore your sons in favor of your daughter, right?" With a few tears added to the mix, the shorter man won the argument because who can say no to that cute face… especially with Mori sitting right behind him.

Haruhi knew when it was pointless to argue, or in reality she had just learned that trying to argue with this group was a waste of effort and breath; so instead of saying anything else, she got into the limo and settled herself next to Mori and Hunny… the safest seat in her opinion. Well, besides Kyoya, but since Tamaki was sitting next to him… yah, beside Hunny and Mori was heaven. "Thanks for the ride guys," she grumbled reluctantly.

"Daughter why are you sitting there? Why aren't you sitting next to daddy? Mommy, tell daughter to sit next to us," Tamaki whined, but in the next instant he gulped and choked a bit with three, yes three, black auras engulfed the limo.

"I believe she is fine where she is, don't you agree… daddy?" Kyoya sneered pushing up his glasses. His classes didn't actually start for another two hours, but somehow he had been awaken early and shoved into the limo before he was fully conscious. Needless to say, the Shadow King wasn't in the best of moods.

Swallowing hard and audibly, Tamaki nodded, "Yes, mommy." Regardless of what many people thought of him, he was not stupid and graduated second in his class at Ouran. He knew when to shut up and now was a good time.

"So what's the plan?" Hikaru inquired.

"Yah, are we eating lunch," Kaoru began and wrapped his arm around his brother as his brother did the same to him and together they finished the sentence, "Together?"

Tamaki perked up immediately and his face got the distinct appearance of a puppy dog (and was that a wagging tail?). Nodding vigorously, he declared, "Yes! We all have a break at the same time before our afternoon classes, so it is only natural that we would meet and eat lunch together."

When planning their schedules, the blond had made the request that everyone have the same break for lunch so that they could meet up at least a few times a week. It had not worked out on their Tuesday/Thursday schedule, but it had for Monday/Wednesday/Friday. Now some might have argued about doing that, but Kyoya stepped in and strongly suggested that everyone comply, and when it was the Shadow King who was asking, it was best to nod and agree. Thus that Wednesday, everyone's calendars were open and it was decided that everyone would meet for lunch (Ouran had started school on Monday, but Todai didn't open until Wednesday of the same week).

As the limo stopped in front of the school, several students stopped and watched to see who would exit. Although it was not completely unusual, but was still far less the norm than at Ouran and still caused a bit of a spectacle. Haruhi sighed and got out after the six men she rode with, and before anyone could say anything, she told her friends goodbye and ran off towards her first class ignoring the screeches of Tamaki and the twins that they wanted to escort her to class.

There weren't many students in the classroom when she got there, but then again, she was still about 40 minutes early, and would have been even earlier if the limo had not parked on the other side of campus from where she needed to be. That was alright though because it meant the chances of someone in her class seeing her arrival was less likely. Thirty minutes later, she realized how wrong she was in her thinking.

"Excuse me," a guy knocked on the desk where Haruhi was sitting, her head stuck in a book reading.

Luckily she had been somewhat paying attention to the time and the banging on her workspace was enough to draw her attention. Moving her eyes up, she locked eyes with a good looking guy standing in front of her, "Yes?"

Smiling down at the cute brunette girl in front of him, the man introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Yuuta Oshiro."

"I'm Haruhi Fujioka," she replied back a small grin appearing on her face.

"Is this seat taken?" He pointed to the seat next to her.

Shaking her head, Haruhi answered, "No. It's yours if you want it."

Yuuta sat down and inquired, "So, is one of those guys your boyfriend?"

Pausing to process his words, Haruhi sweat dropped, "What guys?" She figured he saw her get out of the limo, but she was really hoping that was not the case.

"The group you arrived with."

"No. Definitely not."

"No?"

Haruhi shook her head, "No, they are just good friends. We all met in high school and somehow have remained close."

His smile increased, "Oh, that's cool. Where did you go to school?"

"Ouran Academy," The brunette answered and noticed the widening of the other student's eyes. Tilting her head to the side, she had every intention of explaining the situation, but the instructor came in and halted all speech. It was time to begin her academic pursuits.

It was more than obvious to Haruhi what Yuuta thought upon meeting her. He assumed she was some rich heiress that went to a rich prep school, arrives by limo to college, and has rich friends. Well maybe some of it was true, but the heiress part definitely wasn't. She was going to have to clear the matter up quickly, and yet, something stopped her. Eventually she would be married into a rich family, however, that wouldn't change who she was and out of all her friends, the Haninozuka and Morinozuka were a little less pampered than the other three families… not that they still weren't pampered and spoiled compared to her and other commoners. Maybe she should just blow it off since this was some stranger and she probably wouldn't talk to him too much in the future. Wrong again… No sooner had she thought that, the instructor informed the class that there would be a team assignment due in one month and they had to work in pairs, and then the professor designated pairs. Haruhi was to work with Yuuta.

After class, Haruhi quickly put up her things so that she could dash over to another class located in a different building, but was stopped before she could leave by her new learning partner, "Sorry, but can we talk later. I have to get to another class."

"Sure, why don't you call me," Yuuta pulled out a pen, but realized he had already packed up his stuff too and instead pulled her hand towards him and wrote down his phone number. "We can talk about what we want to do and set up a meeting schedule when you call. See you."

Nodding, the brunette ran out of the room and towards her next class determined to write down the phone number as soon as she got into the room and then clean her hands. That isn't what happened though. She made it to class with only a couple of minutes to spare and wrote down the number in her notebook, however, the professor arrived before she could find a sink to wash the number off of her skin… and then that number slipped her mind until she was quickly and loudly reminded about it.

"EH! Haruhi is that a boy's number? Daughter, what about your boyfriend?" Tamaki chastised her.

With a frown on her face, the female host looked down at the hand her blond friend was pointing to and realized what he was talking about and rolled her eyes, "It's nothing."

"Nothing? Does it look like nothing to you Kaoru?" Hikaru questioned his brother.

Shaking his head, the younger twin concurred, "Nope, looks like a guy's phone number to me and that can only mean…"

"HARUHI FOUND SOMEONE NEW!" The twins yelled together.

Tic marks started to appear over Haruhi's head and she growled, "Will you three idiots stop assuming stupid shit? I have to do a team project in one of my classes and the teacher assigned partners. He is my partner for the assignment, but since I was in a rush, he wrote his number on my hand. I just forgot to wash it off after I wrote it down."

"Forgot, or didn't want to?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked simultaneously.

Now up to a record eight tic marks, Haruhi's hands were in fists and she snarled in a calm and quiet voice, which should have tipped the three troublemakers that they were in danger, "I got to class, wrote the number down, and the professor showed up. I didn't have time to go and wash my hands. I forgot about it until you three so kindly reminded me. Now if you don't drop it, I might drop you."

The three huddled together and cried, "Don't hurt us Haruhi. We understand."

"Ignore them Haru-Chan. We all know you love Chika-Chan," Hunny declared while glaring at his three problematic friends.

Mori ruffled her hair and smiled, "Yah, we know the truth."

"Thanks guys," Haruhi felt herself calming down and returned the grin.

"Really Haruhi, you should know them by now, and thus should expect this kind of immature behavior," Kyoya stated.

"You know what… you're right," she deadpanned. Taking off the cardigan she had been wearing that morning, everyone at their small table gasped as she turned around to put it on the back of her chair. There in the center of her back just under her neck was a black butterfly.

"WHO SAID YOU COULD GET A TATTOO YOUNG LADY?!" Tamaki bellowed.

The twins joined in, "Yah, you tell her Tono!"

Rolling her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that morning, Haruhi face palmed and said, "It isn't real. Chika and I went to a fair on Saturday and got henna tattoos."

"Henna?" Tamaki, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Hunny all asked in unison.

"It is fake. The ink will only last a couple of weeks and then will go away. Chika got one too, well he got two of them, one on each shoulder," Haruhi explained.

The twins and their leader still seemed a bit perplexed, "Fake?"

"Listen you three morons. Henna is painted on and will only last for about two weeks. There is no needle or anything and dates back several centuries. In other words, her tattoo will go away and isn't real," Kyoya snapped. He was still in a bad mood from being woken up early.

"Yes, mommy!" The three voices chimed together.

"That's so cool Haru-Chan! I didn't know Chika-Chan got one too!" Hunny grinned. "I will have to check his out when I get home. Will you be coming over today?"

"That's the plan. He was so busy the last couple days that he said it was best if I didn't, but we should be able to hang out a little today," Haruhi answered.

Tamaki started to sniffle, "My little girl's relationship is strained and now she is getting phone numbers from other men."

Before Haruhi could respond, Mori took charge, "Tamaki, her relationship is good and she is working on a project with someone. There is no problem, so leave her alone."

"Of course Mori-senpai," the blond agreed, but made a plan to watch things and intervene if necessary.

"Hey, what's that?" Kaoru asked.

"What's what?" Haruhi retorted looking down to make sure nothing else was in disarray or that she had picked up another phone number without realizing it.

"The chain. What's on the end of it?" The younger twin pressed and noticed everyone was trying to see what lie around Haruhi's neck.

Out of instinct, Haruhi grabbed the hidden gem, her precious secret, and declared, "It's nothing."

It was said with such finality that everyone just looked at each other before returning their gazes on her. They wanted to ask, to learn the secret, but they knew with that tone of voice, they would get nowhere with her. What could it be? Was it a secret engagement ring? Something from the new guy? Why would she be keeping secrets from them?

Haruhi started to eat and watched the others follow suit. Her secret was safe for now. Yes, it was a little silly, but she would rather the others not know that she was wearing the ring Chika got for her out of a vending machine when they pretended to be engaged. It was just a cheap trinket, but one that she had kept in her jewelry box and treasured for some odd reason. Maybe it reminded her of what was to come. Who knew, but she did know it made her feel like Chika was with her instead of away.


	3. Chika Meets a Stick

**A/N: My readers of this series know me so well. Yes, I will probably be messing with you while I mess with the characters a bit. Assumptions galore and as with the other stories in this series… anything and everything goes. If it can be made into an assumption, it is up for grabs and can be used in the story. If you have ideas for assumptions, you can pm me or put it in a review and I will add it. And if you don't have an account… don't worry. I allow guest reviews, so anyone can participate. So what is up with this new guy? Is he into Haruhi? Does Chika have competition? What are the guys going to do? Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 3 – Chika Meets a Stick

Chika's day had gone from bad to worse and he was almost to the point that he wanted to rip a few heads off, but he remained calm and cool and didn't attack anyone that approached him. Of course that might have had something to do with the evil glint in his cousin's eye and the fact the shinai had not left his hand all day. That thing hurt and Chika knew that if he did anything out of line, he may be suffering from a concussion later. In this situation, it was much better to behave than give in to his urges. The morning had started out alright, as alright as it could be knowing his girlfriend would be starting at a different campus than him this very day, but it had gone downhill quickly; and in order to get over the small ache in his chest he needed to see Haruhi. Thusly, he started to count down the hours and minutes until he would see her after school.

As he made his way down the hall of Ouran Academy, other students were quick to move out of his way in an attempt to avoid the dark aura he was emitting… well the smart ones were, and not everyone was smart. Some of the braver girls who had decided this was the year to make an impression on Chika, approached him and attempted to talk to him. This typically resulted in a couple of girls running away crying, and the others stood there dumbfounded as he walked away. All except one unusually brave (read stupid) girl, Kame Abe. She was determined to win Chika and now that Haruhi was out of the way, this would be her year… or so she assumed.

Rushing to catch up to the captain of the karate club after he brushed her off only a moment ago, Kame walked up to Chika yet again and tried to engaged him in conversation, "So Chika-kun, would you like to eat lunch together?" She believed that would be a good in since it was lunch time and they were both on the way to the dining hall. With her long black hair and violet eyes, she knew she was a catch and firmly believed that Chika should want her since she came from a good family and had been crushing on him since she was ten. Surely everyone could see that she was much better than that Haruhi Fujioka, who was nothing more than a commoner. Ignoring the silent warning Satoshi was giving her, she waited anxiously for the answer she just knew was coming, and a moment later she wondered if she needed to fear for her life.

Chika stopped in his tracks and turned his head to glare at the girl who had called him by the nickname only two people were allowed to speak (his brother because… well Chika couldn't do anything about him yet, and Haruhi because he preferred it coming from her lips). So who dared call him by the sacred name? "My name is Yasuchika. I don't remember giving you permission to call me anything else; and I wouldn't eat with you if you were the last girl in the school. I don't know what you want, but leave me alone. I have a girlfriend. I am not interested in anyone, and I refuse to be taken advantage of by someone who has to beg for attention." He whipped around and left her standing there yet again, mouth agape.

"I tried to warn you. Only two people are allowed to call him Chika and you are not one of those two… never will be. I know what your game is, but he loves Haruhi and he will never look you way," Satoshi told her shaking his head and walked away.

Under her breath, Kame declared, "That is where you are wrong. I will win."

It was after lunch that Chika's day went from bad to worse. Apparently the former hosts were having lunch with Haruhi and noticed that she had another guy's number written on her hand in ink (not that it really could be written in pencil). Yes, Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru all decided that the younger Haninozuka needed to be informed that he had competition from a college guy. The dark mood Chika was exuding suddenly went nuclear and if it wasn't for a well-placed hit to the head knocking him out, he might have actually followed through on his desire to beat someone into a bloody pulp.

Satoshi had been there when the three maniacs called. Did they really think they were helping, or were they purposely trying to goad the younger man? Regardless of the reason, a couple of hours after lunch, he had to knock his cousin out and carrying him over his shoulder to music room three. He almost carried him to the dojo, but he decided there might be people there and he didn't want to give his best friend any sacrificial lambs. There was really no one that could beat Chika in a fight at Ouran, even he had trouble fighting him when his cousin was in a mood. Sighing, Satoshi decided it was best to take him to the empty music room knowing that the Host Club would not be open until the following week. Yes, they were both still hosts, but there were no club activities that day and it would be the perfect place for the other teen to wake up. Honestly, he hadn't meant to hit Chika that hard, but drastic times called for drastic measures and the trio of troublemakers had poured gasoline on a bonfire and then added more wood to make it an inferno. The sad thing was, those three probably assumed they were helping and they weren't. Chika trusted Haruhi, Haruhi trusted Chika… and that was the only way they were going to make it through this year.

Depositing his package on one of the pink sofas, Satoshi pulled out his phone and called Haruhi himself. There were two reasons for this: first, she had to know what happened, and second, he wanted to find out what the real story was. He had learned long ago that when it came to those three there were a lot of assumptions, half-truths, and almost everything was blown out of proportion. Example after example entered is mind: Haruhi supposedly dating Hunny when she was dating Chika, Hunny proposing, Haruhi pregnant, Haruhi and Chika engaged and living together, etc. If he really allowed himself to think about it all, it might hurt his head.

"Moshi, moshi," Haruhi answered the call.

"Haruhi. How's my favorite girl?" Satoshi grinned.

Haruhi could tell something was up with her friend, so she asked, "What happened to Chika?"

"What makes you think something is wrong with your boyfriend?"

"First, you wouldn't be calling me during school hours for nothing. Second, you have a catch in your voice that tells me you got to use your shinai. You always have this smile in your voice when Chika goes ballistic and you are allowed to hit him, which you really aren't since your mom told you no more hitting. Finally, I am going to see him later today, so if something wasn't wrong, it could wait. Just thank your lucky stars I wasn't in class when you called."

Chuckling, Satoshi scratched the back of his head and thought, _"So busted. How does she always know?" _He glanced down at his unconscious cousin and explained, "I knocked him out." Ok, it more like told her without an explanation.

"You did what?!"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"You better tell me what happened."

The younger teen took a deep breath and began, "He was in a bad mood today because he woke up late, but he brushed it off. Then when we got to school all of the girls swarmed him. That hasn't happened… well ever because usually Mitsukuni was around and then when he left, you were here. Well, I guess he got it a little his first year before everyone knew about you two, but this year is a lot worse…"

"Satoshi!" Haruhi interrupted her friend and more calmly said, "What happened today?"

"Oh, right. So, he was swarmed by the girls who were all trying to win him over and he tried to brush them off and then some guys tried to pick a fight with him and said that he was scared of girls and that is why he was running them off. And before you say anything, yes, most people know that you and he are still dating, but these are guys who have never really liked him. After that happened, his whole attitude sucked. More girls tried to give him stuff they made, or more accurately they probably had their staff make, but he declined them all. One girl was really persistent and called him Chika, and you know how much he hates anyone besides you and Mitsukuni calling him that. Finally, after lunch we went to class and after the lesson was over, he checked his phone. He had four missed calls and they were all from three certain people. I will let you guess who they were. Thinking that something was wrong with you, he called Tamaki because he was the last person who called, and he called twice. Anyway, those three told him about what happened at lunch and how you had some guy's phone number on your hand."

"THEY DID WHAT?"

"So needless to say, his bad mood went from bad to worse and I hit him, but I guess it's been a while because I knocked him out cold. The teacher let us leave and I brought him to the music room. I figured the less people the better."

Haruhi face palmed, "It wasn't even like that. My first professor said that we had to work in teams and assigned them to us. I had to run after that class was over because my next class is in another building. I had already put up my stuff and so did my partner for the assignment, so he wrote his number on my hand since I didn't have time to stop and talk. It is only so I can call him and we can coordinate the project."

"I figured there was a better explanation than what those three morons gave," Satoshi grumbled, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. As much as he shook his head, face palmed, sweat dropped, etc. in regards to those three, one would think he would have a permanent hand print on his face, whiplash, be surrounded by water, or something.

She knew she might regret this, but she had to ask, "What did they say?"

"They said that you had a guy's name written on your hand and made up an excuse for not washing it off. They said you talked about him a lot and that you conveniently made it to where you have to work on a project together. They were afraid that you were already leaving Chika behind since you two had been separated by the… as Tamaki-senpai put it, 'distance of the cruel city that created a chasm between two lovers who had already fought like Romeo and Juliet to be together'."

"Romeo and Juliet died," the brunette deadpanned.

"I know," Satoshi snickered.

"We are still alive and it wasn't ever like that. His family loves me. My dad loves him. They are idiots."

"I know."

"The only people we fought were them and that stupid reporter who wanted you… and then Tamaki-senpai."

"I know," he repeated and couldn't help the laugh that escaped.

Groaning, Haruhi told him, "You are not helping here."

His laughter growing louder, Satoshi inquired, "How am I supposed to help? I contained the mythical fourth demon and told you what happened, and instead of assuming you were cheating on my best friend, I called you. You know how they are, so blow it off."

"Your right, but I don't want Chika to think…"

The high school student said, "Don't worry about him. I think he was irritated by those three and didn't actually believe them. If he did, well he deserves that hit and more. He knows how they can be. I mean a week ago they thought he was proposing to you when he was just picking up your earring. Trust me, there is no way he believed them." A small moan coming from one of the couches pulled Satoshi's attention and his eyes travelled to his cousin, "Look, he is waking up now. I will let you talk to him." Placing the phone next to Chika's ear and then rapidly moving out of the way before the other teen completely came to, Satoshi swiped at his brow that he was out of striking distance and had allowed his friend to talk to Haruhi.

"Chika?" Haruhi called out when she didn't hear anything but a low moan.

Blinking, Chika scowled and realized that a phone was next to his ear and responded in a sluggish manner, "Haruhi?" Looking across the room, he noticed his cousin and also remembered what happened. Satoshi would not get away with doing that to him! That was not an assumption, he would make sure his cousin paid.

"Are you alright?" She asked her boyfriend. He sounded a little out of it, but then again, when Satoshi was swinging his shinai there was no telling what damage could be done.

Chika rubbed the back of his head and felt the large bump that was there, "Yah, just another bump."

"Want to tell me what happened?"

"Just a bad day. People have been annoying me all day," he grumbled.

Smiling, Haruhi told him, "I miss you too, but just so you know, the phone number was for my partner in a team assignment. I was rushing out and he gave me his number so that we can coordinate our project."

"I should have known, but I was in a bad mood and…"

"I got it. Those three caught you at just the right time," she simpered.

Chika rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Something like that."

Glancing at her watch, she said, "I have to get to my last class, but I'll see you this afternoon. I think I am riding home with your brother. Love you."

"Love you too," Chika sighed and hung up the phone, but he did feel better after talking to her. She still had that calming effect on him.

Satoshi caught the phone his cousin had hurled at him and smiled, "Everything good?"

"With Haruhi and I? Yes. With you and me? No. You are so going to get it!" Chika declared and got up from the couch to attack the other teen.

The two martial artists did in fact make it to their last class of the day albeit a little late and only missed one whole class due to the "accident" with the bamboo practice sword. Chika could not wait to get out of there for the day and had actually tried to convince Satoshi to skip the last class and go home early… it didn't happen. Instead, he sat through his last period class and then the two teens rushed out the door and into the waiting limo, ignoring all of the girls and anyone else who called out to them, and that included one irritated Kame.

Arriving at the Haninozuka estate, Chika flew out of the car and into the house where Haruhi and his brother had only arrived a few minutes prior. Pulling her into his arms to hug her, he felt grounded and at peace, even if something was poking him in the chest. Quicker than she could react, he pulled out the chain and found the ring he had given her when they pretended to be engaged and grinned, "Miss me?"

"Nope, not at all. I wear this to remind me that I hate you," Haruhi replied sarcastically, but her face broke out into a smile a moment later, unable to keep the serious expression intact. Giving him a small kiss, she pulled back and asked, "How's the head?"

"I took some aspirin to get rid of the headache, but it should be fine," he waved it off. In reality, it was killing him and he vowed to pay Satoshi back tenfold.

Said future victim chose that moment to speak up, "Hey Haruhi, how was the first day of university life." Satoshi still kept his distance from Chika because he wasn't sure if his cousin still had it in for him, and figured he was still in danger.

"Well, if three of my friends could have stopped themselves from spreading a rumor to my boyfriend, it would have been better," Haruhi proclaimed.

"What happened Haru-Chan?" Hunny inquired. Haruhi and Chika went on to explain the situation and the elder Haninozuka face palmed, "Those idiots."

"We know," Haruhi, Chika, and Satoshi said simultaneously.

Hunny looked from those three to Mori who had just walked into the room, "Takashi, they've been around Hika-Chan and Kao-Chan too much."

This statement caused everyone to laugh and the afternoon moved on with a much more relaxed atmosphere. Unfortunately, the couple still had a whole school year to get through and it looked as if it would be just as "fun-filled" as the previous ones since they started dating. It was probably a good thing they were friends with Kyoya and that the Shadow King knew some good psychiatrists. They may need them in the future.


	4. Dinner, I Mean Project Plans

**A/N: The trio was only trying to help by warning Chika in the last chapter… right? There's nothing wrong with their helping or thinking… is there? LOL. I swear their type of help might send Chika or Haruhi into an early grave… and could lead to someone's downfall. Ah well, this story is all about assumptions. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 4 – Dinner… I Mean Project Plans

While Haruhi was at Chika's house, she figured she might as well call her project partner. Her boyfriend sat next to her the entire time and could hear most of the conversation, which she was happy for because she didn't want any assumptions to be made about what she was actually talking about with the other man. Yes, Chika trusted her, but it wasn't him that she was worried about; which was actually another reason why she called Yuuta with her boyfriend in the room and sitting right beside her, "Hi Yuuta. It's Haruhi Fujioka from Sociology."

"Hi Haruhi. How is your evening?" Yuuta smiled a little excited that the cute girl from class had finally called him. He was beginning to wonder if she would phone him or not.

"Good. What about you?" She felt it only polite to ask since he asked first and the manners of a host were still firmly engrained into her brain.

Smile increasing, he responded, "Excellent now that you've called."

Haruhi assumed that Yuuta said that because now they could discuss the project, so she was a little unsure about the growl that came from Chika. Shrugging it off, she decided her boyfriend growled because Satoshi was messing with him or because his head still hurt, "Just a sec." She turned to her boyfriend, "Chika, if you're still in pain, go and take some aspirin." She returned to her call and said, "I was calling to see when you wanted to get together to work on our project together, or did you just want to work individually and break up the assignments?"

"Umm, no we can work together on parts of it and then break up the other parts. Have you reviewed the project yet?"

"Yes."

"Can you meet tomorrow for lunch so that we can discuss it?"

"I can't tomorrow at lunch because I have classes straight through until 2:00."

"How about dinner then? I think it would be easier to talk if we could get together than discuss it all over the phone."

Nodding, Haruhi agreed without thought, "Sure, I can do that. Where do you want to meet?"

"I live near campus, so why don't you come to my place and I'll cook," Yuuta suggested fingers crossed that she would agree to the arrangement.

"Sure. What's your address and what time?" She asked and noticed her boyfriend stiffen a little and rolled her eyes. It was apparent that he would not get the meds for himself and she would need to get them for him.

After getting the information from Yuuta, Haruhi hung up the phone and got up to find a maid. She was going to make her boyfriend take some medicine whether he liked it or not. Returning with the pills she put them in his hand and also handed him a glass of water, "Here, this should make your head feel better." Shooting a glare in Satoshi's direction, she mumbled, "Of course you wouldn't have a headache if someone knew how to control his freaking swing. This is not baseball."

Swallowing the pills, Chika narrowed his eyes on his girlfriend and asked, "Are you really going to another man's apartment to have dinner with him?"

"I'm going to is apartment to begin work on our project and we are going to eat. Trust me when I say it is nothing. We are only classmates," Haruhi declared.

Chika face palmed, "So you see no problem whatsoever?"

"Should I?" She tilted her head to the side in question before scanning the others in the room. It appeared everyone was sweat dropping, "What?"

Satoshi was the first to speak, "Girl, I think it is obvious that the other guy is into you."

"No, he isn't," Haruhi defended.

Snorting with derision, her boyfriend grumbled, "Sounded like he was interested to me."

Haruhi focused her attention on Chika and locked eyes with him, "Do you trust me?"

"Well yah," Chika replied. He trusted her more than he trusted anyone in the world.

"Then believe me when I say it is only a project and nothing else is going to happen. He looks at me like a fellow student and that is all," she stated adamantly.

Sighing, Chika finally smiled and gave her a small kiss, "Alright. I will trust you." Silently he added, _"But if he tries anything, I will kill him. You are too dense to know when someone is hitting on you. You didn't even know Tamaki-senpai and Hikaru-senpai had feelings for you until that one kendo match of Satoshi's."_

"Thank you. That is all I ask," Haruhi grinned and gave him another kiss. They both finished their homework and Haruhi stayed until after dinner, joining the family for the evening meal. It felt good to have her boyfriend's trust and to know he wasn't going to fly off the deep end like a few other people she knew. One of these days (and she knew it would be in the very distant future… maybe the next life) they would stop making stupid assumptions that caused trouble. They would probably always cause trouble, but she could do without the assumptions because you know what they say about assumptions: assume makes an ass out of u and me.

The next morning, Haruhi left her apartment and found, much to her displeasure, a limo parked in front of her building. The urge to hide and then make a break for it was almost too powerful, but she knew she could never outrun the car and her friends would catch her and force her to come with them… just as they forced her into many schemes in the past (distant and recent). Making peace with her fate, she approached the car and got in when the door swung open… only to find the car devoid of anyone but one person, "Kyoya-senpai? Where is everyone else?"

"I believe Tamaki is still sleeping because I managed to get his alarm clock and watch turned back one hour. The twins had similar problems this morning as well, and Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai said that they had already talked to you and were going to school separately," he responded as his glasses glinted in the sun (where the sun got into the car when everything had tinted windows, no one would ever know).

Sweat dropping, Haruhi inquired, "How did you get the clocks turned back?"

Smirking, Kyoya answered, "You should know by now Haruhi that I have my ways."

"Umm, ok. Why did you do it?"

"Would you rather have Tamaki and the twins here this morning?"

"No! I'm good!" She rushed, "But seriously… why?"

"Those idiots woke me up early yesterday and forced me to go to school before I was required to be there. I could have had extra sleep, but because they decided we all needed to go together, they changed me and carried me to the car before I was fully cognizant," he growled his hand making a fist.

"Ok then. So this is revenge?"

Kyoya shook his head, a smile gracing his lips, "Of course not. This is merely teaching those three a very important lesson."

"And you're picking me up because… why?"

Pushing up his glasses, he said, "Because your apartment is on the way to university and because I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Me? What about Kyoya-senpai?"

"This student that you are working with on your project, what do you know about him?"

"Not much. Just that we are in the same class together and his name is Yuuta Oshiro. He is in his first year just like me. So far the only class I have with him is Sociology. We are going to get together tonight to discuss our project. Why?"

Pulling out the infamous black notebook, Kyoya opened it and found the page he was looking for, "So full of the "whys" today Haruhi. I am curious because I have somehow promised Tamaki that I would look into his background. There really isn't much there. Mother is a teacher at a local middle school, father is an accountant for a small firm in Tokyo. He got mainly A's and B's in school with an occasional C. A few clubs, but nothing spectacular; so for the most part he is average and there isn't much to him. I just wanted to give you the results of my research."

A red tick mark appeared overhead as she face palmed, but she forced herself to calm down and said, "Thank you so much Kyoya-senpai. I will keep everything you told me in mind."

"Excellent," he snapped his notebook closed and returned it to his bag. Without Tamaki prompting him, he had already decided to investigate Haruhi's project partner, but he would never admit that to her; however, she was a good friend and Kyoya always watched out for his friends. He didn't want someone to try to take advantage of her and therefore he tried to find out as much as possible about Yuuta. Of course, he got the full name from Hunny who had got the information the night before.

Shaking her head, Haruhi knew that this was just who Kyoya was and there would be no changing him. It was comforting in a way because she knew if he really didn't care, he wouldn't have bothered. He may wear a mask and want everyone to believe he is cold, however, he was anything but that. A small smile appearing on her face, she looked out the window and they continued their ride to school in peaceful silence devoid of the anarchy Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru would create had they been there.

The day moved by without too many incidents… well only one major one. By the time the terrible trio finally made it to school, they were five minutes late for their first class, but it could have been worse… then again when they decided to meet Haruhi after her first class, it caused a bit of a ruckus. Thankfully Mori had arrived to attend a class in that same building and was able to play hero and rescue the former female host from the clutches of the three troublemakers. All day long she tried to figure out how they got a copy of her schedule, and then it dawned on her, Hikaru probably hacked into her online profile and printed it off. He certainly had the knowhow and could probably figure out her password. Time to come up with something other than HnChik .

When her day at school finally ended, Haruhi was ready to jump for joy. Tamaki and Hikaru had taken turns interrogating her about this study partner she had to supposedly work on a project with. Thankfully Kaoru remained quiet. However, when the other two brought up her project partner, she wanted to kill all three remembering what happened the day before and how Chika got a shinai to the head. She fully blamed the trio for his misfortune. Blessedly, the end of the school day meant a break from her friends; although, she knew better than to go home because there was a chance they could ambush her there and she had to go over to Yuuta's tonight. Instead, she hid out in the library at campus in the older section. The guys might look for her in the law section and if she was at the front, she would be easy to spot; however, camping out in the older book section virtually guaranteed escape.

And escape she did. Haruhi finished all of her homework, started research on the Sociology project, and even talked to Chika for a bit though texting during her stay at the library. It was quiet and no one came looking for her… well that she knew of, but if they did, they never found her.

Exiting the library, she walked the short distance to Yuuta's apartment. Ascending the stairs, Haruhi found the right one and knocked, only what greeted her when the door was opened made her think she and Yuuta needed to have a serious talk. The whole apartment was alit with candlelight creating a very romantic atmosphere. This was not good.


	5. Romancing Haruhi?

**A/N: Normally this story would not come up in rotation just yet, but I have been itching to finish the next chapter since I published the last one because it was already halfway written at the time. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5 – Romancing Haruhi?

Haruhi found the right apartment and when the door was opened, the whole apartment was alit with candlelight creating a very romantic atmosphere. Suddenly nervous, she hesitated stepping foot inside the dimly lit apartment and tried to back out of the study session, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can meet with you tonight. Maybe tomorrow… at the library."

"Why?" Yuuta inquired, perplexed as to why she had come all that way just to tell him that she couldn't work on their project together, "Is there something wrong?"

Looking past her project partner to the room behind him once again, Haruhi tried to explain, "I just… the darkness…"

"Are you afraid of the dark?" He inquired giving her an odd look. Far be it for him to judge her for her fears, although at her age, he would have thought most people would have been used to a dark room before, and it wasn't like it was completely dark, he had lit candles.

This was harder than it ought to be. Taking a deep breath, Haruhi decided to be her normal blunt self and hoped he would still be willing to work with her on their school project, "Okay, remember when I said that none of the guys I arrived with were my boyfriend?"

"Yah, so?" Asked Yuuta, still confused about why she wouldn't come in.

Just as the former female host was about to explain further, there was a flickering inside the apartment and the lights came on, "What?"

A relieved expression appeared on the other student's face, "Finally. There was a surge and the whole block was without power for the past hour. I was wondering if they would get the problem fixed tonight."

"Your… your power was out?"

"Well yah, what did you think was the reason for the candles?"

Face palming, Haruhi mumbled, "You probably don't want to know."

Yuuta looked at his guest like she had lost her mind and once again invited her in, "Are you going to come in so we can work, so do we need to do this another night?"

"No, it's fine. Sorry about that," the brunette rushed into the apartment.

"Can you help me blow out the candles? I think I lit everything I have in the place so that we would have enough light."

"Sure."

"So what was all that just now?"

A blush appeared on her face and as much as she tried to quell it, she was unable to, "I just saw the candles and thought… well, you're a guy and I'm a girl…"

"Ok, and?"

"I thought that because you asked me if any of the guys were my boyfriend that you…"

It took a moment and then Yuuta started to laugh. When he could calm down, he noticed the deadpan expression on Haruhi and coughed, "Sorry. It's just that I think your cute and all, but I'm not interested and never will be."

"I didn't think that until I saw the candles; although my friends did when they saw your number. Then they called my boyfriend, who happens to be the brother of one of the guys, and told him that I was cheating on him."

Chuckling some more, Yuuta said, "That's actually kind of funny."

"Glad you think so. Chika wanted to kill them… then again, he has that urge a lot."

"That's not good. So where does this Chika go to college?"

"Actually, it's Yasuchika and he is in his third year of high school. He plans on coming here next year."

"Dating a younger man, you cougar."

"He is only one year younger," Haruhi grumbled and rolled her eyes. Figuring she deserved the good hearted teasing after making her assumptions, she tried not to get irritated; however, one thing bothered her, "Hey, why did you say that you're not interested the way you did?" Not that she cared, but it was kind of abrupt and hurtful. Maybe he had someone already, or was interested in someone.

Yuuta walked over to where she stood after blowing out the candles in the living room and patted her head, "Because you're not my type."

Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "So do you already have someone in mind?"

"Not really."

"Then how do you know I'm not your type?"

"You're not male, which is why I asked about your friends."

That floored her. This was not what she had been expecting to hear, and given that statement, she had to agree… she was totally not his type. Too bad none of her friends were gay, "Oh, gotcha."

Laughing at her again, he sat at the table in the middle of the room and glanced up at her, "Now that we have all of those misconceptions cleared up, can we get started? Since the power was out, I called for pizza just before you got here. I figure we can work until it arrives."

"Sounds good," she grinned and sat down at the table as well.

After their rougher than normal start, Haruhi and Yuuta were able to accomplish quite a lot that night. They broke up the project and assigned meeting times and deadlines. She couldn't believe that she just assumed that Yuuta was trying to romance her. How many times had she tried to teach the others not to jump to conclusions? Too many! Well, at least Chika would have no reason to be jealous or worry… and he would be the only person she would tell about her little faux pas. If the others heard about it… Mori would probably pat her head, Hunny would laugh and probably tease her, Tamaki would squeeze her to almost death and tell her it is alright, Kyoya would make some sort of comment and continue doing it until the day she died, and the twins… they would be the worst, and she didn't even want to contemplate what they would do. Her grave may come early, or at least tempt her, if they found out. Was she being a little melodramatic? Probably, but this is what happened when she was friends with the Host Club. Something told her this was going to become a joke between her and her classmate for a long time to come, even though he said he completely understood why she made her assumptions.

Leaving his house, Haruhi walked to the bus stop to begin her journey home, and as she waited for her transportation to arrive, she pulled out her phone and called her boyfriend. He had asked her to call him when she was on the way home and she had wanted to tell him about the embarrassing start to her night.

Chika received a good laugh at his girlfriend's expense, but also said, "Given the circumstances, I think it is understandable that you assumed what you did."

"I know, but still. How was your day? Head feeling better?"

"Oh, it was quiet here, and yes, it does, but my cousin might have a limp tomorrow."

"What did you do?"

"What makes you assume I did anything? I thought you knew better than to make assumptions without having evidence?" Chika teased.

"The smirk in your voice. I know you. So what did you do Yasuchika?" she retorted a smile on her face, as she stood up to enter the bus and show the driver her pass. Thankfully the bus wasn't full and she was able to get a seat to herself and without anyone else around her. She always hated thinking people were listening to her conversations.

Laughing, Chika explained, "Nothing much. We were sparring and I might have tripped him, accidentally after he asked me how I felt about you going to another man's apartment alone to eat dinner for a study date."

"Yasuchika!"

"What? You can't tell me he didn't deserve that after what he did to me yesterday."

"I guess, but you need to be careful. You two can be vicious towards each other," she couldn't help the giggle that escaped.

Chika snickered, "Yah, I'll be careful watching my back around him. I would prefer no more head injuries. Next time he might hit me so hard I'll develop amnesia. Do you really want me to forget about you and everything that we have?"

"Uh, I don't think that will happen, but I think that even if that came to pass, there would be something inside you that would remember me and we could rebuild… maybe into something better!" She had to hold back her chortling and pretend to be serious.

"Better?"

"Well, yah. Why rebuild to be the same old same old?"

"So are you not satisfied with what we have?"

Haruhi had known he would probably take the bait and she almost felt bad… almost, "I am for the most part." She could just picture a red tick mark, or more, appearing above his head.

"The most part? What's wrong with our relationship?" Sure enough, three tick marks were hanging around Chika at that moment.

Sighing heavily, she replied, "Well, I didn't get to see you today and I was stuck trying to hide so that three idiots wouldn't find me."

Chika was dumbfounded momentarily, but soon laughed, "Well, if you want, I can come pick you up and take you home."

"I'm on a bus."

"So get off at the next stop and tell me where you are. I will pick you up from there."

Haruhi really hadn't meant to make Chika come and get her because she thought it was a waste. Riding the bus was acceptable and fine with her, however, the thought of seeing her boyfriend when she had not expected too was almost too good to pass up… actually it was too good to pass up, "Deal." Giving him the location, she got off the bus and waited for her chariot to arrive.

When Chika pulled up to the bus stop, he opened the door before the car came to a complete stop and grabbed his girlfriend to pull her inside. After his time with Satoshi this afternoon and the teasing his cousin dished, Chika would admit to himself only that he had imagined all sorts of things happening at Yuuta's house and had been relieved to hear of Haruhi's experience. Yes, his inner mind theatre would have rivaled Tamaki's and therefore it would be a secret that he would take to his grave.

"You know, I find it best to wait until the car stops before trying to get out or enter the vehicle," Haruhi teased before giving Chika a kiss, "But I'm glad you were able to pick me up."

"Me too. You know, I could arrange for you to be picked up…"

"No."

"Haruhi," Chika started.

"The bus is fine. It's just tonight I wanted to see you."

Smiling, he pulled her close and kissed her again. It took a few minutes, but soon they parted, both breathless. "Ok, no picking you up all the time. Just be careful. Alright?"

"I will," Haruhi snuggled up to his side loving the feel of his arms around her. Yes, they may be separated for the year during school hours, but it was moments like this that made everything better and reminded them both that they were still connected.

**A/N2: Nobody is safe from the assumptions and I knew as soon as I published the last chapter, ending where I did, a lot of people would assume it was a date… or Yuuta's attempt at one. Sorry guys, it had to be done. LOL. **


	6. Two Demons Emerge

**A/N: I have to ask all of you for a favor. Yesterday I received word from a good friend that she was just diagnosed with stage 3 invasive breast cancer. I am asking for prayers and/or positive thoughts to be sent out to Rachel. Thank you everyone! **

**As for the story… Will that be the last time I mess with you in this story? Probably not, but don't worry most of my tricks will be reserved for the characters… maybe. Yes, even Haruhi made some assumptions about Yuuta; and even though Chika gave her a hard time, he was a little jealous, so in a way he made assumptions too. I wonder what the hosts would think if they heard that Yuuta was interested in them. More fun to come… Enjoy!**

Chapter 6 – Two Demons Emerge

A week went by since Haruhi first met with Yuuta at his apartment and each day that passed, her friends were hounding her about staying true to Chika. Of course it would have been better if she would have just told them the truth, but she kind of hoped they would stop with the assumptions on their own; and really it was only three particular individuals. Hunny and Mori knew the truth, and she was pretty sure Kyoya just wasn't interested… either that or like with everything else, he had discovered the truth… hell, he might have been responsible for the blackout testing her and/or Yuuta's trustworthiness, but that was a stretch… maybe. This was the Shadow King after all.

She had known the guys in the club for three years now, and in that time Haruhi has been fought over multiple times, accused of being a gay boy, had more assumptions than she can count (or wanted to think about) thrown her way, and found love in one of the most unlikely places. Now given the fact that she and Chika have been together for a little over two and a half years, she would have thought and hoped that Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki would know better than to make stupid assumptions… much like they had in the past (engaged to Hunny, engaged to Chika, pregnant, cheating with Nekozawa, and the list goes on); however, it seemed that was not the case. A week of telling them nothing happened and their arguments that Chika is a good man and that she needed to stay strong for her love, arguments that Yuuta was out for just one thing, and accusations that Yuuta would steal her from Chika had driven Haruhi to almost her breaking point. So why hadn't she told them the truth about Yuuta yet? Punishment? Well by not telling, she was punishing herself more than them. To teach them a lesson? Yes, but apparently they hadn't learned it in three years and she doubted that they would any time soon. The simple answer was to see how long it would take before they stopped accusing and started to ask. Well that and the fact that Chika, even though the constant phone calls were annoying, loved to mess with Tamaki and the twins and may have been stoking the fire a bit. One example of such a scene happened on Sunday afternoon…

**_Flashback…_**

_Chika had arrived at Haruhi's house around lunch time so that he could share the meal with Ranka and Haruhi. It had been a quiet time and enjoyable, but somehow that changed two minutes after the redheaded father left to go to work. It had been long suspected after their first meeting ended poorly that Tamaki had radar and knew when Ranka was gone or when he was home and could now easily avoid him after tweaking it a bit over the years, and it only worked for him, never for Haruhi. _

_As soon as Ranka had left, Haruhi looked at her watch and started the countdown. Call it radar of her own or intuition, but she had a feeling that the hosts would be arriving soon, and if they did, it would be within five minutes after her father left. She had been right. With the commotion they had been making about Yuuta and the fact that she had only told them nothing happened because the lights came on before they started to study (she was probably stoking the fire a little as well and increased the number of assumptions with that one declaration), the brunette figured they would not give her peace this weekend. They had barged in the day before as well. _

_Knocking at the door had the couple chuckling as Chika went to answer the door. Swinging it open, he leered, "What do you want Tamaki-senpai?" He shifted his gaze to see exactly which hosts were there and immediately swung a punch at his brother, barely missing Tamaki's body by mere centimeters. Hunny dodged the attack and jumped out of the way of another one before blocking a kick. _

_When the first punch had been thrown, Tamaki had frozen on the spot and turned white, his jaw dropping to the floor. However the twins declared he must stop the fight since he was their king and therefore it became his responsibility to end the attacks… that and the fact that they picked him up and threw him in the middle of the fight, so he really didn't have much choice. Holding his head in order to protect his brain (or what was left of it), he screamed, "I thought you two stopped this! Brothers shouldn't fight like this! Haruhi come help daddy with your boyfriend!"_

_Shrugging, Chika rolled his eyes, "We don't, but sometimes…"_

_Hunny started to giggle, "Shock value."_

_"__WHAT?" Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru gasped/yelled at the same time. _

_Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya stated, "If you noticed the punches and kicks they threw were not at their full power and were easy to dodge. They were not really fighting. I believe they were purposely trying to… how should I put this? Ah, freak you out."_

_"__Not really fighting?" Tamaki asked as his head turned to look at one brother before moving to the next and back again, whipping his head back and forth several times. _

_"__If you keep doing that senpai, you are going to get whiplash," Haruhi said from the door before moving to stand next to her boyfriend. Chika and Hunny were better about their fighting, and they still fought, but they had decided to keep it in the dojo so that someone wasn't accidentally hurt… of course this came about after Haruhi was almost punched. She had not been expected and had decided to surprise Chika at school, unfortunately, she happened upon the brothers when they had first run into each other. The rule had been if she was with them, no fighting, but she since hadn't been there, they fought and almost hit her. After that, it was confined to the dojo only. _

_Sinking to his knees, the former princely type, grumbled, "I can't believe they played me like that."_

_"__Enough senpai. You're causing a scene. Why don't all of you come in?" Haruhi ordered and ushered everyone in the house, watching as Mori picked Tamaki up and carried him in. After making tea and passing it around, she inquired, "So, what brings you guys here today? I'm sure I just saw you yesterday."_

_Tamaki slapped the table with his hand and immediately got serious, "We came to talk to both of you and convince you, my lovely daughter, that this Yuuta character is the wrong type of guy to hang around!"_

_Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "Wrong type?"_

_The once Host Club president looked at Chika, "Yasuchika, you have to talk to her. If you don't, it could adversely affect your relationship!" _

_The twins nodded their agreement and said, "Yah!"_

_Not one to really listen to these three, especially since he had been hearing it for days, he questioned them, "Do you think Haruhi is cheating on me?"_

_"__Well… no, but this guy will try to steal her away!" Tamaki declared. _

_"__So her feelings are fickle?"_

_"__No! I didn't mean that!"_

_"__Have you actually met this Yuuta guy?"_

_"__Well, no."_

_"__So how do you know he is trying to steal her away?"_

_"__He wrote his number on her hand! No guy does that!"_

_"__Don't you have something written on your hand right now?" Chika pointed to the blue smear on the blonde's own palm._

_Tamaki looked down at his hand and realized his argument was not working, but still he tried to press forward, "This was a reminder to talk to both of you about this serious situation!"_

_Chika studied the other man for a second before he glanced to his left where Haruhi sat and shrugged, "We knew this year would be difficult and a sort of test for us, so it is like an experiment to see what happens."_

_"__So you aren't concerned about this guy at all?" Hikaru queried anxiously._

_"__Should I be?" The young Haninozuka asked. _

_Kaoru answered, "YES! He is trying to steal Haruhi from you!"_

_"__Haruhi, is Yuuta stealing you from me? I know you said he was smart, good looking, and charming, but is he winning you over?"_

_Haruhi knew exactly what he was doing and everything Chika had said was the truth and exactly what she had told her boyfriend, and Yuuta had won her over, but only as a friend, "I would say that he is a really good guy that is winning me over. Yes."_

_Smiling, Chika had to hold in his merriment, "Well, it looks like I will have to try harder."_

_A small giggle/snort caught everyone's attention. Hunny was having a hard time holding in his amusement, and it didn't help that Satoshi looked like he was ready to knock some heads together. "Sorry everyone," he snickered._

_"__This is serious Hunny-senpai. Do you really want your brother to be heartbroken when this guy takes Haruhi?" Tamaki asked, his voice loud enough that all of Japan could probably hear him. _

_"__You're right Tama-Chan, this is serious. Yuuta tried to romance her with candlelight and pizza," the elder man said pushing his laughter way, way down deep inside. _

_Another knock at the door caught everyone's attention and Haruhi went to answer it. After explaining for about five minutes to her landlord's wife that she was not in danger and no one was going to kidnap her, she returned to the living room and glared at Tamaki, "Keep your voice down if you plan on staying."_

_Tamaki apologized and the afternoon continued. The hosts were not going to leave until Haruhi and Chika had promised to work at their relationship a lot harder and if needed to, then they needed to seek a relationship counselor… Kyoya said he would provide a name, but that was only to shut up his best friend. Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki were still not convinced nothing was going on with this Yuuta character and secretly decided to carry on their own investigation, but first they would have to figure out who he actually was. This was not going to be an easy feat. _

_As soon as they left, Haruhi turned to her boyfriend, "You didn't help."_

_"__You didn't either. Let's see how many assumptions they make now," Chika chuckled._

_"__You think they would have learned their lesson by now," the brunette grumbled as she sat down next to her boyfriend and leaned her head against his shoulder._

_Kissing the top of her head, he said, "True, but look at who we are dealing with here. Maybe one day, but I think we are going to have to deal with them for years to come. Be prepared."_

_"__I kind of figured the same," she snickered before lifting her head and pressing her lips to Chika's. "At least if I have to deal with crazy, I have you with me."_

_"__Always," he kissed her again._

**_End flashback…_**

That had been a few days ago and the trio was still going strong. She had met with Yuuta twice more since and she swore she saw Tamaki and the twins following her in fedoras, sunglasses, and trench coats. Already assuming that they would follow her, she had been prepared for such efforts; however she had not been prepared for what happened as she and Yuuta exited the library on that Thursday afternoon. Tripping, Yuuta caught her before she went face first and fell down the stairs. However, he had caught her arm and pulled her back, so to anyone not in the know (and three idiots), it appeared that some strange man was embracing her.

Watching the duo exit the library, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki from behind the couple as Yuuta, unable to suppress his desires, pulled Haruhi into his arms and hugged her. The trio knew it needed to do something and rushed forward grabbing Haruhi and pulling her out of Yuuta's arms. As the twins started to carry her struggling form away, Tamaki declared, "Find someone else because she is taken!" He followed his conspirators to the limo and soon they were driving away. They had rescued his daughter from a very precarious situation… so why did she look so mad at them?

"Haruhi?" The three asked together.

"You idiots! He caught me because I had tripped and was about to fall down the stairs!" She bellowed.

"But it looked like…" Hikaru started and shut up when a black aura started to make its appearance.

Haruhi was about to lose it and growled, "Pull over the car and let me out now."

"We have to pro-pro-pro…" Tamaki stuttered, but did not continue as the intensity of the gaze caused him to freeze and turn to ash… again.

She was dropped off at the next block. Pulling out her cell phone, Haruhi knew Chika was probably still in club, so she decided to call someone else, "Hunny-senpai, can you come and pick me up. The twins and Tamaki tried to kidnap me again."

"Sure thing Haru-Chan!" Hunny replied and gave his driver instructions since he had just been leaving campus himself.

Waiting on the corner for her ride, Haruhi tried to calm herself figuring the black cloud surrounding her was probably giving the people around her the jitters. Really, those three were idiots and she should have known something like this would happen. She could have taken the bus, but she wanted to see her boyfriend and she was afraid she might accidentally lash out at an innocent person on the bus; she would rather save her murder rap for three people who deserved it more.

**At Ouran Academy…**

As soon as the doors to the Host Club opened, the girls flocked in… and one girl in particular cozied up to Chika and even tried to hang onto his arm. He had been able to extract it, but he could already tell Kame was going to be a big problem. Why was he still a member of this club again?

Kame waited for her moment and when Chika wasn't paying attention, she tripped him causing him to fall towards her and she locked lips with him. When he pushed her away, she smiled, "Oh Chika-kun!"

Satoshi had watched it all, and although it looked like his cousin had thrown himself at the girl, he knew better. He also knew that Chika would never cheat on Haruhi. Excusing himself from his customers, he approached the group, which contained some upset girls who had witness the transgression, "Yasuchika, can I see you for a moment?" As they walked away, he could hear girls accusing Kame of tripping Chika and stealing a kiss, and others were questioning Chika's loyalty to Haruhi wondering if the Host Couple had broken up. Shaking his head, he closed the door to the kitchen and turned to speak to his best friend, but didn't get anything out before Chika spoke.

A black aura hovered over Chika as he growled, "If you are going to say something about the kiss or how I cheated on Haruhi, save it!" He was pissed. Never had he thought that a girl would go that far in order to get his attention… then again, someone did give Tamaki a love potion, so it really shouldn't have surprised him too much.

"Nope. I was just going to tell you to watch your back around Kame. She seems to have her heart set on you and looks like she will try to force the issue. If we need to, we can ban her from the club, but she will probably try something out of the club as well."

"SHE TRIPPED ME!"

"I know."

"She called me Chika!"

"I know, but you can't kill her for that. She is still a girl. If you need to, leave early and I will take care of your customers. Should we ban her?"

Chika thought of all the ramifications of banning Kame and the problem would lie in the fact that he couldn't actually prove that she had tripped him. Banning someone without just cause could give the club a bad reputation and that was the last thing he wanted because he feared what Kyoya would do to him if something did happen to the Host Club. Shaking his head, he sighed, "We can't, but I think I will take you up on leaving early."

"Good. Go ahead and leave, call Haruhi, spend some time together, and don't worry about Kame. I will handle her myself," Satoshi grinned maliciously.

Nodding hesitantly, Chika went to the back room and grabbed his stuff after leaving the kitchen. He wasn't sure what that smile of Satoshi's meant, but it was probably not good and he had to wonder if his cousin had been around two devils and a Shadow King too long. As he was leaving, he noticed Kame trying to follow him, but Satoshi intercepted her and called the attention of Chika's other customers.

When the door had shut, Satoshi addressed the customers as he held onto Kame's arm, "Sorry ladies, but something came up and Yasuchika needed to leave for the day, so you are free to join me or one of the other hosts."

"Are there problems between Yasuchika and Haruhi?" One girl asked.

"Not at all. They are as strong as ever. He just tripped and accidentally fell on Kame here. He is still completely head over heels for Haruhi and they are even going on a date tonight!" Satoshi responded with a huge smile. "If you will excuse me for a moment, I will return. Feel free to find another host for the afternoon," he stated as he pulled Kame to the side of the room where he knew a camera and microphone where hidden, and where he could talk to her in private without being suspected of anything untoward. Without releasing his grip he told her, "I know you tripped him when he wasn't expecting it. Let me make a couple of things perfectly clear: he loves Haruhi and they are very much together, he doesn't want you, he only likes to be called Chika by two people and you are neither one of them, and if you pull something like that again, I will kick you out of this club."

"I can do whatever I want, and if you don't release me right now, I will say that you tried to make a pass at me. I will also say that you tried many other things. Haruhi isn't here any longer and that makes Chika fair game," Kame sneered.

Narrowing his eyes, Satoshi released her arm as he laughed in her face, "You apparently don't realize who you are dealing with. You may want to do some research and find out what happened to a certain newspaper reporter when she tried to go against the Host Club. And if you try to spread those lies about me, I will make sure the whole school knows the truth about you. This conversation has been recorded."

Kame gasped and her eyes widened. She would concede for now, but this was far from over, "Fine. Whatever." She left the club for the day and promised herself that she would have Chika by the end of the year.

After he left the club, Chika called Haruhi in the hopes she was done working on her project for the day. The moment she answered, he felt relieved, "Hey Haruhi."

"Everything alright Chika? You're brother just picked me up and is taking me to your house now," Haruhi explained.

"Yah. Do you want to go out tonight? I think I just need some us time."

"Me too. Yah, we can do that."

"Good, I'm leaving school now. I will see you soon," he breathed out.

Today was just another trial, but they both made it through without killing anyone. That being said, the year wasn't anywhere close to ending and at that very moment, rumors were circulating, wrong assumptions were still being made, and plots were being designed. Someone may die yet.


	7. Everyone Gets Involved

**A/N: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MOMS OUT THERE! Sadly the trio really has not learned their lesson and attempted to follow Haruhi and Yuuta. Then they thought they were doing their good deed of the day and rescuing her from the clutches of her project partner. Then poor Chika had to deal with crazies on his end… yah those two deserve a night out without interruptions. Will they get it? Read and find out. Enjoy!**

Chapter 7 – Everyone Gets Involved

The moment Chika walked through the door of his family home, a body hurled itself at him and he had to maneuver and do what he can to stay upright. Looking down at the person in his arms, he furrowed his brow in confusion, "Haruhi?"

"No time to talk. Let's go," the brunette declared and started to push her boyfriend out of the house.

"Wait! What's going on here? I haven't even had a chance to put my book bag down!" He tried to stop her, knowing he was the stronger party, but her determination was the one winning right now.

Giggling, Hunny approached and grabbed the bag from his younger brother, "Don't worry Chika-Chan, I'll put this in your room. You two have fun now!" He waved them off and helped Haruhi give the younger man one last shove out the door, and then slammed the door behind them, effectively shutting them out.

Chika shot a glare behind him at the door when he heard the lock flip into place and dug his feet into the ground. The sudden stop made Haruhi lose her balance and she would have fallen face first onto the porch if Chika wouldn't have caught her, "Thanks. Now let's go! Oh wait, do you have your cell phone?"

Believing that his girlfriend had finally been driven mad by her friends, he cupped her face and said, "Haruhi, we can talk to Kyoya-senpai about getting you some help." Chika wasn't sure what had happened in the twenty minutes since he had gotten off of the phone with her, but something caused her to go bonkers and blaming the trio seemed apt. Besides, he was kind of surprised it took as long as it had.

Narrowing her eyes with what appeared to be murderous intent (and it was surprising to see no demon aura surfacing), Haruhi slapped his hands away, "Don't be a moron. Tamaki and the twins have called an emergency meeting and are on their way to pick up Hunny-senpai right now. We need to get in the car before they get here."

Not needing to be told anything further, Chika grabbed her arm and practically threw her into the waiting car. The door was closed just in the nick of time because no sooner had it disappeared that the troublemakers themselves turned into the estates driveway. Both Haruhi and Chika ducked down in an effort to avoid getting caught. They threw themselves to the floor boards when Hikaru peered into the windows and said, "I wonder why they have a limo here waiting with the engine running."

"Hunny-senpai's parents probably have somewhere to go and it is waiting," Kaoru suggested.

Luckily Chika's driver knew better than to make any sudden moves or to leave quickly while Tamaki and the others are around. This could be from years of practice or instinct… or even a combination of both. Either way, the moment he noticed the other limo, he threw the car into park and let the engine idle, pretending to still be waiting on his occupants to arrive, preferring not to engage in a high speed chase like he did when Chika was still in middle school. Of course that night he had been driving Hunny around.

The trio exited with Hunny and the occupants in the limo could hear Tamaki ask Hunny, "Hunny-senpai, you may want to tell your parents to hurry. The limo has been waiting for a few minutes."

"My paren… OH! Yah, I will send them a message now. If they don't leave soon, they will be late for their reservations. Let's get going so that Kyo-Chan doesn't get irritated. You know how much he doesn't like to wait," Hunny instructed and pushed Tamaki towards the car that would take them to this emergency meeting… which he wasn't exactly sure why they were having a meeting to begin with. With one last look at his brother's car, he got in the limo and soon were driving away. Pulling out his phone, he did indeed send a message, but it was for Chika and it read, "U safe now. Leave."

Rolling down the divider, Chika told his faithful driver, "Mitsukuni said that it's safe to go now, but I would drive in the opposite direction of the Morinozuka house since they are probably picking up Takashi first. It may be a longer route to get into the city, but do anything to avoid the Morinozuka and Ootori houses."

"Yes, sir," the driver responded with a smile.

Chika settled onto the seat next to Haruhi and took her hand in his, "Where do you want to go tonight?"

"Hunny-senpai already made reservations for us. Your driver knows where to go," she smiled up at him and kissed his cheek, "Sorry for rushing you out of the house like that, but we were afraid that if we stuck around Tamaki would notice. This way, we were out of the house and could avoid them. Since the limo's windows are tinted as black as they are, we also knew that the others wouldn't be able to see in."

"Hmmm, yah that is true," he said tiredly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Yasuchika Haninozuka, that lie might work on others, but it won't work on me. If I need to, I will call Satoshi. When you called you sounded kind of funny, so what happened at school because usually you would still be in Host Club or just now getting out."

Running a hand through his hair in frustration, he grumbled, "A girl attacked me today."

Haruhi had to take a moment and process what he had just said and then her mouth went from hanging on the floor to twitching in amusement, "I'm sorry, but did you just say a girl attacked you?"

Chika glared at his girlfriend, "It's not funny! You are actually okay with a girl trying to attack me and steal me from you?" He knew he was lashing out in frustration, but he really didn't like her reaction.

Shaking her head, the brunette answered, "Nope, not at all, but I also know that you would never cheat on me and that try as she might, her plans won't work. So what happened?"

He leaned back on the seat and stared at the ceiling, "She tripped me and the way I fell I landed on her, and… and kissed her. Well, I should say my lips fell on hers and she kissed me. After that Satoshi pulled me into the kitchen and sent me home."

Snuggling up to his side, Haruhi hugged his arm and told him, "I believe you, and I know you would never do anything to hurt me. Just like I would never do anything to hurt you… regardless of what three people assume they saw this afternoon."

"What do you mean 'assume they saw this afternoon'?"

"I tripped and was about to go sailing down the stairs when Yuuta caught me and pulled me back. The three idiots came out of hiding and pulled me away from Yuuta and screamed that I was taken. Then they tried to kidnap me, but I made them let me out of the car and I called your brother to come and get me. So the emergency meeting is probably because of that."

"Yuuta isn't even interested in you," Chika deadpanned.

"I know."

"They really are idiots. I hope they don't find out about this afternoon. I can only imagine what images will race through their head then."

"Hey, let it go. Whoever that girl was has good taste in men, but the bad luck to fall for someone taken. I'm sure she now knows that you are not interested."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that one."

"What do you mean?" Haruhi questioned, pulling back a little to look in her boyfriend's flushed face. What exactly happened this afternoon?

Clearing his throat, Chika looked out the window before turning his gaze back to Haruhi, "Do you remember when Satoshi knocked me out because I was having a bad day?"

"Yah."

"There was a very insistent girl and she also called me Chika."

"Yah."

"This was the same girl. I don't think she is taking my 'no' for an answer."

Haruhi narrowed her eyes and then smirked almost evilly, "We could always sic Tamaki and the twins on her. I'm sure that would make her go running for the hills."

She always knew how to make him feel better and Chika started to chuckle. Leaning in, he gave her a small kiss, "They would then actually be useful to us."

"So who is this girl?"

"Kame Abe. She is an annoying girl that doesn't know how to listen, and she keeps calling me Chika."

Snickering about how her boyfriend seemed to be caught up on that one fact, Haruhi told him, "Don't worry. She will either get tired of the chase, or we will let the others handle her. I don't think she wants to go up against Kyoya and the other hosts. It didn't work for the reporter and it won't work for her; and since I am coming to club next week, we can put any rumors to rest that you and I are not together."

"Sounds good to me," he declared and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. He wasn't so sure that Kame would take the hint, and something told him to keep Haruhi away from her, but he liked the thought of hosting with Haruhi again and proving to all of Ouran that he and Haruhi are still very much together.

**_Ootori mansion…_**

After picking up Mori, the hosts arrived at Kyoya's house and rushed up to his room. The moment Tamaki spotted his best friend, he announced, "Mommy, we're all here! Now we can start the meeting!"

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya eyed his friend. The glare from the light shielding his eyes and allowing him to observe everyone who had entered briefly without them realizing it before he spoke, "Yes, Tamaki, what is the reason for this emergency meeting?"

"YUUTA MADE A PASS AT OUR PRECIOUS DAUGHTER!" The blond yelled.

"EH?!" Mori, Hunny, and Kyoya dead panned and gasped.

Hunny shook his head and asked, "What makes you think that Tama-Chan? He isn't actually interested in her. Haru-Chan said…" Unable to finish because the twins held hands over his mouth to get him shut up, he elbowed them both before throwing them, "Don't do that!"

Tamaki walked up to the older man, "We know it's true because we saw it with our own eyes. Haruhi is naïve and doesn't realize when someone is making a pass at her. Remember in high school, she didn't realize that we had feelings for her until we confessed. Of course by that time she had already chosen Yasuchika."

"So would you three mind enlightening us as to your epiphany?" Kyoya inquired as he watched the twins struggle to get up off the ground. It was apparent that no one was going to help them after Hunny threw them… and with just cause.

Seeing as his partners were still trying to come to their senses, Tamaki felt like it was his duty to share the news, "He pulled her into his arms. She says that it was because she was about to fall, but she was blushing and wouldn't look us in the eye! Now, doesn't that sound like a guilty conscience? If he was just rescuing her, he didn't have to pull her against his body and hold her close like they do in the romance movies! I tell you, he was making a pass at her and if we had not stepped in and rescued her, he would have done all sorts of terrible things to her." His mind started to race with the possibilities sending his inner mind theatre into overdrive…

**_Curtain rises on Inner Mind Theatre (applause)…_**

_Yuuta is unable to control his urges any longer and just as Haruhi is about to step away from him, he grabs her arm and pulls her into his embrace and says, "Oh Haruhi, how I long for you. Dump Yasuchika and be mine."_

_Shaking her head, Haruhi declared, "No, I love Chika and I only want to be with him."_

_"__Then if you won't come willingly, I will make you mind by force!" Yuuta declared and pulled her tighter. Lowering his head, he tried to kiss the struggling Haruhi. She may struggle and fight him now, but he was never going to let her go and he would do whatever it took to keep her. In that moment, he made a decision, he would take her to his place and tie her up until she wanted nobody but him. She would depend solely on him, and when she realized she loved him, he would release her and make love to her. Either that or, when he got her to his place, he would force himself on her. Regardless of the means, she would be his for eternity!_

_Or it could go something like this…_

_"__No, I love Chika and I only want to be with him," Haruhi declared albeit weakly._

_Yuuta could see the crack in her resolve and pressed himself closer, "You know you don't want Chika, you know you want me."_

_"__No, please. I love Chika!" _

_"__Come with me!"_

_"__No, I can't!"_

_Smirking, he lifted her in his arms and carried her away, yelling out a promise, "None of you hosts will ever see her again!"_

**_Curtain closes on Inner Mind Theatre (applause)…_**

Holding his head and dropping to his knees, Tamaki yelled out, "NO! Don't go with him Haruhi! Don't worry, daddy will save you!"

"Tono and his inner mind theatre," Hikaru grumbled as he settled himself on the sofa far away from Hunny.

"Yah, the boss always looks creepy when he starts this up," Kaoru agreed as he sat down next to his brother.

Together they proclaimed, "But he does have a point."

"So you are saying that Yuuta really did try to make a pass at her?" Kyoya inquired.

"That's the way it looked to us," Kaoru said.

Kyoya smirked, "So there is no way that you are misinterpreting everything and therefore assuming you saw something that you didn't?"

Shaking his head, Hikaru was emphatic, "No way! If he was really trying to save her, he didn't have to pull her into his arms like he did."

"Kao-Chan?" Hunny looked to the younger twin to see if he was willing to change his mind after what Kyoya said.

He felt oddly out of sorts and wondered if they did in fact get it wrong. How many times had they made assumptions and been wrong where Haruhi and/or Chika was involved? Tons, and yet, there was something off about this Yuuta guy and he had to wonder if they weren't actually right this time. Giving into his inner ponderings, Kaoru said, "He might have only been rescuing her, but that embrace looked a lot more loving than someone just trying to play hero. I think there might be more here than Haruhi thinks. Plus, the boss is right, she has never been good at reading peoples romantic intentions. We have seen that first hand… several times."

Did he dare tell everyone the secret? Hunny wasn't sure if it was his to tell and therefore kept quiet about it all, and instead said, "I don't think we should jump to conclusions. Haru-Chan would never cheat on Chika-Chan and never do anything to hurt him."

"I don't think you understand my dear Hunny-senpai," Tamaki stated as he got up suddenly recovered from the turmoil his inner mind theatre had caused him, "We have to protect her for her own good, or he will steal her heart without her knowing."

"So your saying Haru-Chan is fickle," Hunny questioned narrowing his eyes with irritation.

"No, we aren't saying that at all!" The twins bellowed like a prey sensing danger and wanting to preserve their very lives.

Tamaki, who had walked up to Hunny when he had explained the problem, took one giant leap away from Hunny and landed halfway across the room, "No… no… no, we are only saying that we need to be on guard for her since she doesn't know any better."

"So she's stupid?" Hunny asked.

"NO!" The three conspirators cried out, fearing for their lives.

As much fun as it was to watch the trio squirm, Kyoya still had some work to do and the sooner the meeting ended the better… plus there was one guest that should be arriving soon and he wanted the Haruhi business wrapped before then, and if possible, he wanted the trio out of the house before he arrived. They would only cause more problems. Standing up, he addressed the room, "I believe what they are trying to say, very poorly at that, is that although Haruhi is smart, she doesn't always read people correctly and we should investigate this Yuuta character further to make sure he has no ill intentions towards our Host Club princess."

"EXACTLY MOMMY!" Tamaki yelled and glomped his friend.

Barely hanging onto his footing, Kyoya rolled his eyes as Tamaki snuggled him, "Will you quit that?!" He pushed his friend off of him and told him, "I will investigate him myself. We can meet on Saturday afternoon and decide what to do from there. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes!" Everyone agreed.

"Good, then get out. Hunny-senpai, Mori-senpai, can you please stay. I need to ask you a question for one of my school projects," Kyoya ordered.

"Why can't I stay mommy?" Tamaki pouted.

"Because I have work to do and you will do nothing but distract me. Now you three, go!" The Shadow King dictated and to make sure they did what they were told, he unleashed his dark aura.

Yelping, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki ran out of the bedroom as fast as they could. They exited the house and dove into their car, however, just before it was about to take off, they noticed another car pulling up and a person they all recognized get out of the car.

"Hey boss, what's he doing here?" Hikaru inquired.

"I don't know. Maybe he heard about the meeting?" Tamaki suggested, but felt a little confused. Making a decision, he told the twins, "Alright men, let's go back inside and find out what is going on!" They got out of the car and gained entrance to the mansion yet again. Standing outside Kyoya's door, they listened to everything being said.

Satoshi stood in front of his brother, his cousin, and the infamous Shadow King and told them all about what happened this afternoon with Kame. He figured if anyone could help diffuse the situation it would be Kyoya, and although he wasn't expecting Mori or Hunny to be there, he was glad they were there to listen and help if needed.

"This is a problem. Not only did she make a spectacle of herself and Yasuchika during the Host Club, but she is also trying to get in between Yasuchika and Haruhi. I will see what I can find out about her and if we need to, we will deal with her like we did Kameko Suzuki," Kyoya stated.

"Thank you Kyoya-senpai. I made sure the conversation from this afternoon was recorded. We were standing in a part of the room that has both cameras and microphones," Satoshi stated.

Smiling, Kyoya nodded, "Good job. Let's see what we can uncover and then we will decide how best to handle the situation. Haruhi and Yasuchika will have enough stresses and problems this year without adding to them."

Hunny agreed, "Yah, speaking of which, shouldn't we tell those three that Yuuta is gay?"

Satoshi snorted with mirth, "They don't know yet? So, let me guess, something happened and they blew it all out of proportion."

"They did," Mori shook his head and sighed.

After filling Satoshi in on what the others were doing, the younger Morinozuka could not control his amusement and started to laugh, "I'm sorry, but only them. You would think they would have learned by now."

Unbeknownst to the four men inside the room, three men quietly walked down the corridor after hearing the news about Yuuta. Once inside the car, Tamaki shook his head in sadness, "Men, they have all been fooled and believed the lie. He is saying he is gay so that he can get close to Haruhi and snatch her up."

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other before facing their leader again, "You're right boss!"

"Men, we have to stay vigilant for our dear Haruhi's sake. Since we still have classes, we will have to take turns watching her and Yuuta. Let's make sure he never has the opportunity to make a pass at our princess again!" Tamaki declared standing up and then immediately sitting down because he hit his head on the ceiling.

Snickering, the twins said, "Maybe you should have rolled back the sunroof boss."

"Are you with me?" Tamaki inquired still holding his head.

"We're with you Tono!" Hikaru and Kaoru proclaimed.

And thus began the plans to protect Haruhi, protect Chika, kill Kame (uh, deal with Kame), and so forth. The only people not involved were the couple, who had a couple plans of their own. It appeared (and it is an assumption) that this would only end badly.


	8. Dreams and Garbage

**A/N: For those interested, I have started a new Kyoya/Haruhi story entitled Please. It is set during Haruhi's fourth year of college. Check it out if you like that pairing. For this story… I can only shake my head at the three mischief makers. I should probably hang my head in shame that I keep writing them like this, but I don't because I know you enjoy it and get a good laugh, and that's what matters. LOL. As you can all probably guess/assume, I will be using Yuuta and Kame to set in motion some misunderstandings of varying extremes. You will probably see more inner mind theatre, and as always for the Assuming series anything goes, and expect all hell to break lose at some point in time… maybe more than once. Enjoy!**

Chapter 8 – Dreams and Garbage

Saturday morning dawned bright and early and Tamaki was up even before the birds outside had started chirping. Holding his pillow close to his chest, anxiety fought within him threatening to emerge and come to the surface, and if it won, he may find himself being taken to the dump in another garbage truck. It was horrible and the smell was finally beginning to dissipate from his skin and hair, already having burned the clothes that had been subjected to such travesty. He didn't want that to happen again. Okay so one could say he may have overreacted a little bit, but when he saw what he saw… he shuddered at the memory.

**_Flashback (this is your warning that stupidity will ensue and you will be left holding your head in shame for the princely type)…_**

_After Tamaki and the twins left the Ootori mansion, they went to the Suoh estate and designed a schedule that would allow the trio to split the responsibility of protecting Haruhi (i.e. following, stalking, spying, etc.). Knowing that Yuuta only had one class with Haruhi and that the interloper was busy all morning, allowed them to put their special talents to use first thing in the morning, after the class Haruhi and Yuuta had together, and then again in the afternoon. It made it much easier than trying to follow them 24/7. _

_As it happened, Tamaki was awarded (basically because he begged) for the first afternoon shift and the blond took his job very seriously. Donning a three piece suit, trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses (because that's what all spies wore in the movies), he stalked them very closely. Of course he realized he was too close when he bumped into Yuuta's back and had to duck down an alley to avoid being caught. After that Tamaki kept his distance while still keeping them in sight. He was sure they hadn't noticed him, thus keeping him in the clear… he assumed wrong. _

_Haruhi could feel Tamaki breathing down her neck and when someone bumped into Yuuta, she knew exactly who it was. For now, she would let him play his game and when the opportunity presented itself, she would deal with her overprotective, daddy fanatic/wannabe friend. She just had to be patient and wait and she knew Tamaki would do something to mess up. Patience was key… and thanks to dating Chika, she had learned that particular virtue in droves and had become vastly more patient than she had ever been previously. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with her boyfriend, but more than once she found herself waiting as he and his elder brother duked it out; and then she had to patiently bandage him up when he lost. Yes, she had learned a lot about patience and increased her knowledge of first aid since dating Yasuchika Haninozuka. As it turned out though, she didn't need to do a single thing… her father took care of Tamaki for her, although it was a bit more harsh than she would have done to the blond. _

_Home on a rare afternoon off from the bar, Ranka welcomed Yuuta into his home knowing the young man and Haruhi needed to work on a project. He left the partners alone in the living room and went into the kitchen to make them some tea, insisting he play the part of a good father and host for his only child. Glancing into the living room from the kitchen, Ranka could see that their heads where already pushed together as they poured over their notes. In fact if he didn't know how innocent it was, it would almost appear as if they were a couple or as if something was happening between the two, but it wasn't. No, his daughter was completely enamored with Chika and the redhead thought Hunny's younger brother was perfect for his little girl. _

_Peering into the window of the Fujioka apartment, Tamaki was frozen. Haruhi was staring__ into Yuuta's eyes. They were laughing and moving in so that their faces were even closer. They were going to kiss! He had to stop this, but how? Spying through the window yet again, he noticed the partners were looking down into a book now, but their hands… they looked like they were holding hands under the table. This shouldn't be happening! Tamaki needed to rescue his little girl and get her away from the monster who was attempting to steal her innocence! _

_Movement in his periphery caught Ranka's attention and he looked up in time to see a suspicious looking character peeping into is window. Without wanting to disturb his little girl's study date, he crept out of the apartment door and snuck up on the pervert, "How dare you try to peep on my daughter you sicko!" Ranka grabbed the man in the trench coat and threw him over the railing and into the dumpster that was located by the stairs on the ground floor just as the garbage truck was picking up the trash for the day. It wasn't until Tamaki's head popped out of the garbage as the dumpster was being lifted into the air that Ranka realized just who had been peeping into their apartment, "Well, serves him right. He shouldn't be dressing that way or spying on my baby!" Dusting off his hands, he returned to the apartment with a smile on his face and a renewed bounce in his step._

_"__Dad?" Haruhi called from the living room window._

_"__Yes, sweetie?" The redhead called back._

_She turned to gaze at her father, "Did you just throw Tamaki-senpai into the dumpster?"_

_"He needed to be taught a lesson. No one should __stalk my little girl," Ranka smiled and his focus shifted to Yuuta who stood next to his daughter, "I will do anything I need to in order to protect her from predators and I just got rid of an oversized bug."_

_Haruhi and Yuuta both sweat dropped. The brunette girl tried to stop the garbage truck, but it was already on the move with Tamaki doing his best to get out of the garbage before the truck made it too far down the road. Pulling out her phone, she called the only person she could think of that might be able to help in this particular situation, "Kyoya-senpai, we have a problem."_

_Trying to climb out of a dump truck full of garbage was a lot harder than Tamaki would have ever imagined, and it wasn't until the truck arrived at the garbage dump that he was finally released from his confines. As the trash was poured from the truck, he rolled out of the back and landed at someone's feet. Looking up, he realized it was his best friend come to save him, "Mon Ami!"_

_"__Do not touch me, do not come near me right now Tamaki. You need a bath. You reek," Kyoya ordered and held out his hands to ward off the overenthusiastic blond. _

_"__But mommy!"_

_"__No buts. You stink and I will not have you touch me. I called your car and you will go home in that. I recommend keeping all the windows open and the sunroof. I just feel sorry for your driver," the bespectacled man stated as he lifted a banana peel off of his friend's shoulder. Shaking his head, he turned and started to walk off, but spun around to give his best friend one final word, "Tamaki, stop trying to follow Haruhi. Yuuta has nt designs on her affections. Do you really think if he did, Ranka would let him into the house?" With that said, he got into his car and instructed his driver to leave quickly._

_Unfortunately Tamaki was standing in the wrong place and got sprayed with the dirt Kyoya's car kicked up when it left. Although in the grand scheme of things, compared to what he had just been through and what else covered his body, dirt was probably relatively cleaner than everything else. It took four baths, 2 showers, and a lot of cologne that night before the blond felt like he didn't smell of a garbage truck; however, the odor lingered upon him for a couple days longer. _

**_End flashback (I warned you)…_**

Due to his mishap with the garbage truck, Tamaki had been unable to recommence his spying. The twins had to work double duty, but they were unable to find anything that would convince everyone else that Yuuta was out to get Haruhi. The next step would be to break into his apartment, however, Tamaki was not exactly sure how to go about doing that. Kyoya would know, but the princely type could not count on his best friend to help him with this particular mission. Thinking through his options, he thought aloud, "Maybe I can Google it." He still had time before the afternoon meeting, so Tamaki grabbed his computer, sprayed on another squirt of cologne, and started his internet search.

**_Elsewhere in Tokyo…_**

"I can't believe he has avoided me all week!" Kame screamed into her pillow thankful that the sounds from her room would not reach her parents on the other side of the house. Unable to sleep all night, she was awake and pondering her bad luck. She had tried time and time again to gain Chika's attention and had failed every time. What did she have to do to get him to her side? She could kill Haruhi, but she figured that would make matters worse. No, she needed to do something else. Something that would show Chika that Haruhi was the wrong person for him. Now all she needed to do was find the right bait. Pulling out her computer, she began the planning phase of her scheme. She would get Chika and ruin Haruhi in the process, and she thought she might know exactly how to do it.


	9. Meetings, Threats, and Secrets - OH MY!

**A/N: Poor Tamaki was taken away in the garbage truck and got dumped at the dump. Oh well, at least the smell is starting to go away; although I have a feeling the hosts will still try to make sure they are not downwind of him for now. As for Kame… what is she planning? Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 9 – Meetings, Threats, and Secrets… OH MY!

There comes a time in everyone's life when he or she feels like they are going crazy, and for Haruhi that moment has come and gone more times than she would probably care to count. So when she got a phone call early this morning from her boyfriend telling her that he was coming over and picking her up, she rolled her eyes, released a sigh, and got ready for Chika's arrival certain that it had something to do with certain friends of theirs. Somewhere it should be written that a person should not have to endure people or situations that will leave a permanent hand print on one's face, but alas it is not… at least no where she has found… yet. Still Haruhi had to admit that her friends were there to support her (except in the past when they were trying to fight for her) and cared about her in their own unique way; and if it eventually led to bodily harm, well it already did thanks to Tamaki's glomps, then she supposed it just proved someone really could be loved to death, or at least to injury.

Hearing an impatient banging on her door, Haruhi moved quickly to answer it. Based on the time frame, it had to be Chika, however, his impatience worried her. Swinging the door open, she did in fact find her boyfriend, but his hair was unkempt, his shirt was only half tucked in, his breathing was ragged, and his eyes looked almost wild. The only thing she could bring herself to say at such a time was, "What the hell happened to you?"

Chika shook his head and surveyed the area behind him before pushing his girlfriend inside and slamming the door shut again. Panicked? He was more than a little panicked. Someone was out to kill him, and if he had to place wagers, he would bet it was Tamaki or the twins. In an attempt to control his breathing and gather his wits, he pulled a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. He dare not answer his girlfriend until he was calmer, no matter how freaked out she looked, or the fact that her concern was growing by leaps and bounds the longer it took to answer her.

"Chika! What is going on?" The brunette demanded to know. Did she need to call the police? Her eyes scanned his body for any sign of injury, but found no blood or other fluids that might give her a clue as to what was going on. "Chika, you have to tell me what happened!" Yes, she was assuming it was something bad, but anyone would when comparing his normal appearance with this… person who showed up at her door. When he had called her and told her he was coming over, she knew he sounded off, but she had never been expecting this.

Finishing the water, her boyfriend breathed in and out deeply as he set the glass down and placed both hands on her shoulders, "Have you been followed recently?"

"Well yah. You know the twins and Tamaki-senpai…"

Chika shook his head, "By anyone else other than them?"

"No. Kyoya-senpai isn't siding with those three morons. What happened?"

"Do you think they would have hired someone to follow me around?"

"No. They are after Yuuta. What happened?" She snapped. Her patience was at a limit and she needed to know what her boyfriend had experienced. Was he going to jail? Did she need to call mental health? Did she need to call Kyoya and ask to borrow the Black Onion Squad, or was this more of a job for Kassanoda and his yakuza family? Maybe she should call Nekozawa and see what he could do? She wasn't sure what to do, but she knew that she needed to know and she needed to know now!

"I've had this feeling that someone has been following me around for the past couple of days, but I brushed it off, and then this morning Mitsukuni told me that the hosts were holding a meeting this afternoon at Kyoya-senpai's house."

"What for?"

"Yuuta. Well, you and Yuuta."

"Yuuta? What about him? What about someone following you?!" It wasn't her fault her boyfriend was being evasive and forced her to raise her voice as she yelled.

Another deep breath and he swallowed hard before he continued, "Ok first, this morning I left the house because I was going to meet Satoshi and when I got there, he wasn't there. I thought he was just running late and decided to wait for him since we had agreed to meet at the mall because he was having brunch with someone. After thirty minutes, he still hadn't shown and I called him and got voice mail. So I texted him and he responded back that I had cancelled on him to see you, so of course he wasn't going to meet me, but I never cancelled on him. I felt like someone was watching me again and made my way to the car and right before I got in, someone threw a throwing star at me. I ducked and rolled and it missed. I jumped in the car and my driver took off. That's when I called you."

"Oh my god! Are you ok? Are you hurt?" She started to feel his arms and look at him more closely.

Shaking his head, Chika answered, "No, I'm fine."

"We should call Kyoya-senpai and tell him what happened. He might be able to find something out. Did you see anyone?"

"No, I could only tell what direction it came from, not who threw it. I did manage to pick it up before I jumped in the car though," he stated and turned worried eyes upon the visage of his girlfriend, "So no one has been following you besides the idiots?"

Haruhi thought back and finally told him, "No, they're the only ones that stood out." If she was honest, and she was, she was freaked out, worried and panicked. What was going on? Who would be after Chika? And then it really hit her and she started to shake; someone had tried to kill her boyfriend.

Seeing his girlfriend lose her composure, Chika pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. His body was full of tremors as well and the thought briefly entered his mind that the reason nothing had happened to Haruhi is because Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki had been following her so closely. Maybe… and this was a stretch that he was not willing to concede just yet, but maybe they had inadvertently saved her. He couldn't be sure of anything right now, and at the moment, he just wanted to hold her and relish the fact that she was safe, she was alive, and no one had tried to harm her. Breathing in her scent, he let it calm him and allowed him to find a modicum of peace for his unsettled mind.

With her head buried in his shoulder, she mumbled, "We need to call Kyoya-senpai."

"Do you really think he will be able to help?"

"I think he might be able to find more than the police."

He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped, "Is that why you didn't suggest the police?"

"Maybe. I figured you already called them."

"Not yet. Let's call Kyoya-senpai first. Maybe this is someone playing an awful prank. I don't know. I might think it was Mitsukuni if I knew he hadn't been with Takashi at the time."

Haruhi pulled back and lightly slapped his chest, "That's awful. Your brother would never do something underhanded like that and for you to accuse him…"

He silenced her with a kiss. When he released her lips, she tried to talk again and he pressed his lips once again against hers. This time when it ended, she stayed silent and he gave her a small smile, "I know. You're right."

After a holding onto each other for a few more minutes, they called Kyoya and let him know what had happened. He instructed them to get over to his house as soon as possible.

Exiting Haruhi's apartment, Chika pulled her swiftly down to his car and then practically threw her inside. He didn't care if she protested, this was to keep her safe and if she found fault, he would find a way to make it up to her later.

By the time they got to Kyoya's house and Chika had handed over the star that was thrown at him, the other hosts had started to arrive. "Umm Kyoya-senpai, why is everyone here?" Haruhi questioned.

"That's what I told you about earlier," Chika stated.

"Earlier you…" A hand over her mouth interrupted what she was going to say. Nodding, the brunette licked her boyfriend's palm to get him to move the appendage. She understood that she needed to keep the attempt on his life quiet for now. Hunny and Mori could probably handle it, the others… well, they might try to keep them from seeing each other, storm off in every direction in an attempt to find the culprit, and ultimately might get themselves killed or maimed by helping, "So why don't you tell me again?"

"We are meeting to discuss Yuuta and your involvement with him," Kyoya informed her as he pushed up his glasses. Mentally taking attendance, he was surprised that the one person who wanted to meet the most had not arrived yet, "We are just waiting on Tamaki."

It was almost as if the princely type had radar because at that moment he rushed into the bedroom out of breath. Haruhi felt like this was déjà vu based on what she saw earlier today and immediately worried that the person who was out to get Chika got to Tamaki as well, "Tamaki-senpai? Are you alright?"

Hearing his name from the brunette's lips, Tamaki's head whipped up and locked onto his target. His feet moved of their own accord and soon he was flying across the room in order to sweep Haruhi up into his arms and shouting, "Haruhi, you care about your daddy!" As soon as he was almost to her, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the body. His intention was to embrace Haruhi, but he wound up embracing Chika instead. Realizing that the body he was holding was a little too firm, he said, "Haruhi have you been working out more?"

"She has, but not as much as me," Chika growled.

Eyes popping open, Tamaki jumped back, "EEK! Now, n-now Yasuchika. I didn't mean to hug you. I wanted to hold Haruhi."

"You wanted to hold my girlfriend?" The younger man sneered.

"That's not what I meant. I meant I only wanted to hug her because I haven't seen her in a while," Tamaki tried to explain.

Snickering, Satoshi teased, "The more you talk, the deeper your grave is going to be."

Chika narrowed his eyes on the blond ignoring his cousin, "Yes, since you were thrown into the dumpster. You may want to spray a little more cologne, I don't think it masks the smell as much as you think it does." Reaching behind him, he grabbed Haruhi and sat down next to his brother, far away from Tamaki and his… interesting smell.

As soon as they were seated, Haruhi looked at Tamaki, "Are you alright senpai? What happened?"

"Huh?" Tamaki appeared unsure of what she could be referring to and then it was like a light bulb went off in his head. If one were actually observing the former president, they could see the light appear above his head and hear the small ding that rang when it dawned on him what she was asking. Smiling, he approached her and then stopped about five feet away when he heard the distinct sound of someone growling. The blond gazed to the man sitting beside her, guarding her possessively, "Making that sound is unbecoming of a gentleman. First and foremost you are a host and a gentleman."

"No, first and foremost I am a man, she is my girlfriend, and I love her. Everything else is secondary," Chika argued.

Tamaki seemed a little startled and then cleared his throat, "Yes, well…" Instead of retorting, he settled himself in a chair because he noticed when he went to sit on the couch, everyone moved. Apparently the smell still lingered. When he finally took his seat, he said, "Yes, I am perfectly alright. My car got a flat tire and I decided to run here so that I would not be late."

"So we have garbage," Hikaru started.

"Mixed with cologne," Kaoru added.

"Mixed with sweat and dirt. No wonder it's amplified," the twins finished together.

Jumping to his feet, Tamaki yelled, "This wouldn't have happened if it had been you two following her instead of me. It would have been you doppelgangers that would have ended up at the dump."

"No way boss," Kaoru shook his head, "We know how to spy."

"And Ranka loves us," Hikaru chortled.

Together they mocked him, "Besides, you're the one that wanted to follow her that day."

Tamaki would have protested further, but Kyoya spoke up, "If you three are quite finished, we need to get this meeting started. Unlike you three, I have better things to do than sit around here and debate Tamaki's unexpected trip to the dump." Receiving nods from everyone, he noticed that Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki shared their own conspiratorial nod, and he could only guess what that meant, but for now he would leave it. The Shadow King adjusted his glasses and began, "I have done a thorough investigation into Yuuta Oshiro. He is the first son of Megumi and Kunikazu Kondo. Oshiro is his mother's maiden name." He paused and glanced up at four shocked faces, Mori's was stoic, and Haruhi's looked irritated, which meant she had no idea what he just announced. Smiling, he continued, "His family did not agree with certain lifestyle choices he made and disowned him, however, he still gets a monthly stipend from his family. So apparently he is not completely cut off. He works part time at a grocery store. Attends Todai and is a first year, but we already knew that. He graduated at the top of his class from a boarding school in England, he came back to Japan to attend university here and start to learn more about the family business, but as I have said, he was disowned. He attended Ouran during his elementary years and was in class B. During middle school, his family transferred him away from Japan because they wanted him to have a broader education and believed a boarding school in England would supply that." Kyoya glanced up again and smirked. Now there were five shocked faces and not just four. Mori remained stoic, but even the bespectacled teen could see the surprise hiding in those grey depths.

Five minutes of silence passed before anyone spoke, and the first to say anything was Haruhi, "So, he's one of you rich bastards?"

"Was, but not anymore," Kyoya answered.

She turned to Hikaru and Kaoru, "He's our age. You didn't know him?"

Shaking his head, Kaoru stated, "Nah. He was in B class and we didn't associate with anyone at that time."

"So what does his family do?" Haruhi questioned.

"They are heavily into politics, but they also run one of the largest telecommunication companies in Japan," Chika stated.

Satoshi added, "They are also into martial arts and specialize in taekwondo."

"Wah?!" She gasped. This was a bit more shocking than she would have originally believed. This didn't seem right. Didn't he tell her about her past? She was sure he had, but this was never included in his biography.

"I do believe since his family's business has risen in stature in the last several years, if he would have continued at Ouran, he would have been moved to A class," the former vice president remarked.

Knowing the answer already, Hunny posed the question, "Why did they disown him Kyo-Chan?"

"He's gay," Kyoya replied matter-of-factly looking directly at Tamaki and the twins.

Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki all exchanged a brief glance. They might be able to believe that he grew up in the same circles as them, but no one would ever convince them that Yuuta wasn't after Haruhi. The way Yuuta looked at her, had pulled her into his arms, tried to kiss her… nope, he wanted her and the others were blind if they didn't see it.

Kyoya pushed up his glasses again, "So as you can see, any exchange between him and Haruhi are completely innocent. He is not interested in her."

"He does and we will prove it!" Tamaki declared, standing up quickly and making a fist.

"Yah!" Hikaru joined his leader and then glanced down at his brother who was still sitting down, "Kaoru?"

"Um, yah," the younger twin said and stood up as well. He didn't sound convincing and that was because he kind of believed Kyoya's report. This was Kyoya, the infamous Shadow King after all, and he could find things that no one wanted found. Even if someone believed it was buried deep into the earth's core, Kyoya could find it. He was truly terrifying sometimes.

Shaking her head, Haruhi glared at her friends, "This is high school all over again! Do we need to discuss what happened with Hunny? Or what about the school reporter? Renge and what she thought happened with Nekozawa?"

"This is different!" Hikaru retorted.

Haruhi scoffed, "Doesn't look like it to me."

"We'll get the evidence and prove it to you and everyone else!" Tamaki interjected forcefully. He grabbed the twins and pulled them out of the room.

Sighing, Haruhi laid her head against Chika's shoulder, "This is not going to be fun."

"Should we warn Yu-Chan?" Hunny asked.

All eyes turned to him and they sweat dropped. Just the thought of what Tamaki and the twins could do sent shudders through their bodies. Yes, they needed to warn Yuuta and fast! There was no telling what could happen to him if they didn't.

**_In another mansion in Tokyo…_**

"Almost done and then I can have these delivered. By now he should have gotten the first package and Chika will realize that Haruhi wasn't the girl for him and come running to me. This is perfect!" Kame laughed with excitement. She was sure her plan was going to work, and if this didn't do the trick, well it was only the first phase after all.

**_At an undisclosed location…_**

A phone started to ring and a man answered, "Yes?"

"Is it done?" The voice on the other line asked.

"It is. Everything was as we discussed and he was not harmed," the man replied.

"Excellent," the other voice smiled and disconnected the line.

Putting the phone down, he shook his head. He was being paid well, but it seemed almost like a joke. At least the job was easy and now he just had to wait for his next set of instructions. Easy work and good money, nothing wrong with that.


End file.
